Pensioners, recipients of child allowances and welfare benefits, earthquake victims and unemployed persons will receive one-off payments in April as part of the government's fourth package of aid measures, the government decided on Thursday.

The €1.7 billion aid scheme is the government’s response to the global economic crisis and inflationary pressures, and aims to help households and businesses cope with price increases.

€169 million will be provided to protect the most vulnerable citizens from inflation, and €64 million will be allocated to help 696,000 pensioners with a monthly pension of up to €610. One-off pension allowances will range between €60 for those with pensions of between €470.01 to €610 and €160 for those with pensions of up to €260.

The aid scheme also covers 128,000 families with 230,000 children who receive child allowances. A total of €9 million has been allocated for this purpose. The amount of the one-off payment will depend on the number of children, so that families with one child will receive €45, those with two children €70, those with three children €100, those with four children €130, and families with five and more children will receive €160.

Welfare recipients and Homeland War veterans included in the welfare system will receive a payment of €150, while 8,795 earthquake victims staying in temporary accommodation will receive a payment of €265 per person or not more than €1,327 per household. 60,000 unemployed persons registered with the national employment bureau will receive a one-off payment of €100.

Providers of social services will receive a monthly payment of €70-540, depending on the number of users. Providers of home assistance services will receive €70-80 and providers of accommodation and organised housing service will get €140-150. This measure covers 506 service providers and its budget is €4 million.

The government increased the monthly allowance for vulnerable energy buyers from €66 to €70. The measure is designed for 69,000 such buyers and €36 million will be allocated for this purpose.

Student centres will receive a total €8 million in aid for a sustainable food system, which will ensure that 111,000 students continue to pay €0.86 per meal.

The government adopted a report on measures for the energy renovation of houses and buildings, allocating €288 million for this purpose.