The West German government is Increasing pensions for restitution recipients and war victims, it was learned here today. An official announcement of a 9.5 percent increase in restitution pensions is expected within the next few months. Despite objections from the Bundesrat, the upper house of the Federal parliament, the increases will be retroactive to Jan. 1. 1973. They will affect about 175,000 Israelis.
The government also envisages an 11.4 percent increase in war victims’ pensions which was approved by the Bundesrat July 6 and is expected to go into effect Jan. 1, 1974. The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Socialist Union (CSU) along with war victims groups tried to persuade the government to implement the increase from July 1, 1973. But the Jan. 1974 date still stands.
The 11.4 percent rise is in line with the 11.4 percent increase in social insurance pensions that have been in effect since Jan. 1, 1973. Both are part of the Bonn government’s pension reform program. The Increased pensions for war victims will add DM 773 million to the 1974 budget and will bring total annual payments for war victims to DM 10 billion.
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