Last April, the government amended the retirement system so that the annual increase of retirees' pay is linked to the surplus. 

It is possible to assume that retirees will never receive the annual increase, given the poor investment performance of Osool Asset Management (the authority's investment arm). 

It is inappropriate to limit retirees' raises to the authority's financial performance, especially considering the fund's deteriorating financial conditions as a result of poor investment decisions and the depletion of funds due to government and ruling family decisions.

Mismanagement and thefts by government officials should not be passed on to retirees.

As the amount of the increase does not exceed 18 million dinars, the government ought to have funded the increase from the state budget. 

Gulf Air records annual losses of hundreds of millions of dollars. Why does the government fund Gulf Air but not retirees' increases that only cost a few millions?

A project can be financed by the government if it wishes. With more than 500 million dinars, it has financed projects that have failed, such as Formula 1. 

What stops the Government from allocating part of its surpluses, which are estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars in the face of rising oil prices, to fund the annual increase in retirees for at least the next two years? 

Retirees need an annual increase of only 3% of their base salaries in order to cope with price inflation, or else they will struggle to support themselves.

In April, Bahrain's inflation rate amounted to 3.5%, but this is not indicative of the amount of real damage done to consumers, including retirees. 

If the rate of inflation in the entertainment, hotel, transportation or telecommunications sectors is low, this decline would affect the final rate of inflation.

These sectors, however, do not contribute much to consumer spending and are not essential. The food sector drains the majority of consumers' incomes, on the other hand.

In the past two months, the food sector has experienced a 10% inflation rate.

Local VAT increases caused this significant price rise, and the global wave caused by the Coronavirus pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict caused significant price increases as well.

Bahrainis should in no way be left to take the brunt of this huge food inflation. Retirement benefit increases can be seen as part of a broader set of decisions that must be made by the Government in order to ensure a minimum standard of living for its citizens.