Large COLA jump in Italy, Germany

[unhappycamper]

Large COLA jump in Italy, Germany
By Matt Millham, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Saturday, November 17, 2007

The cost-of-living allowance given to U.S. troops in Germany and Italy went up as much as $138 a month Friday, bringing needed relief to servicemembers whose dollar-filled wallets have been battered by the European economy.

In Germany, the COLA increase, announced Thursday on the Defense Department’s Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Allowance Committee’s Web site, was triggered solely by the high cost of the euro.

The high euro rate acted together with rising prices to produce an increase in troops’ COLA in Italy.

It’s a different story in the United Kingdom where COLA rates, adjusted upward in mid-October, stayed flat.

Troops in Germany and Italy will notice the latest adjustments in their end-of-month pay.

Individual COLA allowances vary according to a member’s rank, years in service and number of dependents, among other factors.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50328