For the first time since an economic crisis began in 2010, which brough harsh austerity measures, almost all Greek pensioners of Jan. 1, 2023 will get an increase in benefits.

The state insurance agency EFKA said 94.6 percent of the country’s 2,634,786 pensioners will get a raise with some 1.3 million getting two hikes and another 185,649 receiving three, said the state-run Athens-Macedonia News Agency AMNA.

One in two pensioners will see one extra payout which is equivalent to a month’s full pension. The second and third increases relate to several factors affecting individual pensions, such as the annulment of a solidarity tax.

The changes are coming under the New Democracy government ahead of mid-2023 elections in which they will face a rematch with the former ruling Radical Left SYRIZA, which changes it name to the Progressive Alliance.

While in power, the Leftists continued pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions they had denounced before taking office, the measures so severe one pensioner killed himself in Syntagma Square in protest, which has been forgotten.