Gergely Gulyás, Head of the Prime Minister's Office, said the 13th-month pension remains an important part of the Hungarian pension system, and the government is committed to increasing the purchasing power of pensions and protecting pensioners.

Gulyás said "one of the most important proposals" at Wednesday's government meeting was on the situation of retirees.

In the past 15 years, the average pension has grown to nearly 250,000 forints (EUR 615) from around 100,000 forints, he said.

Gulyás said the 13th-month pension was being constantly attacked "by the opposition in the hands of Brussels". "The Tisza party's experts are also calling for changes to it, and Brussels has obliged Hungary to get the OECD to prepare a study. The OECD suggested that the 13th-month pension be curbed and reformed," he said.

The government will not comply with those requests, and the 13th-month pension will remain an important part of the Hungarian pensions system, Gulyás said, adding that the 13th-month pension will be transferred on Feb 12, costing the budget 550 billion forints this year.

The government is also helping pensioners by extending its rural home renovation scheme to include them, he said, with pensioners able to access government funding for half of the costs of renovation, up to 6 million forints, and a low-interest loan for the rest of the costs, he said.