After debating it at five sessions, the Shura Council (the Upper House of the Egyptian Parliament) Monday approved the Social Insurance and Pensions draft bill and referred it to the People's Assembly (the Lower House) for further discussions. "The council amended 30 articles of the draft bill with the aim of siding with the low-income citizens," Safwat el-Sherif, the head of the Shura Council, said Monday. He added that preparations for discussing the law took 15 meetings between an ad-hoc committee and Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros-Ghali (insert) as well as his aides. "This is a historic U-turn for the whole society," Ghali told the House. He lauded the amendments made by the council as very significant and a positive addition to the achievements of the current Government. Ghali explained that citizens aged 65 or above would receive a pension of LE100 (around $18), whether they have made pension contributions or not. Once the legislature has approved the law, 2,700,000 citizens will have their pensions increased, as the law triples the pension of those who receive LE50 to LE150.
