The government submitted a last-minute draft amendment on Thursday - the last day of the current legislative session - to institute a new maximum monthly ceiling for social insurance benefits (primary, disability, bereavement etc) issued by the primary health and pension fund (EFKA).
The new ceiling is 4,608 euros, or, in other words 12 times the basic primary monthly pension benefit for 20 years of contributions, and for beneficiaries up until Dec. 31, 2016.
The urgent nature of the draft amendment caused deputies of the main opposition SYRIZA party, as well as the Communist Party (KKE) and the radical leftist MeRA25 to walk out of the debate. The other two opposition parties later also walked out.
