The labour ministry announced Wednesday it has deposited the low pension allowances in the bank accounts of around 3,300 eligible families who were also eligible for the guaranteed minimum income (GMI).

The amount concerns the 2020 increase, the ministry said.

The increase of the 2020 low pension allowance ensures that single pensioners receive €710 per month while a couple would collect €1,216.

Some 31,000 other pensioner families who were eligible for the allowance but not the GMI had received their payments in December last year.