The government and the National Insurance and Social Security Service (NISSS) are advancing a series of reforms to strengthen the National Insurance Fund’s (NIF) long-term sustainability, officials have said, after an actuarial review warned it could run out by 2041 without intervention.
NISSS chief executive officer Kim Tudor said the government had decided not to delay addressing the issue and has since focused on a revitalisation process aimed at strengthening the fund’s sustainability.
She told reporters: “There were quite a number of measures that we put in place, such as increasing the number of contributions you need to get a pension and pushing the pension age up. So those things together, along with some other measures, helped to boost the sustainability of the fund.
“In addition, the Central Bank, over the last three years, has given us permission to invest overseas. So we have increased our investment overseas, which means we are able to diversify the fund not only in the type of instrument we use, but also in terms of the currency. This enables us not to put all of the funds in one place so we can benefit from the improvements.”
Tudor spoke after the NISSS 59th anniversary service at St Matthias Anglican Church on Sunday.
Also in attendance was acting social security minister Sandra Husbands, who said the government was pursuing additional strategies to safeguard the fund’s future, highlighting that a key component was the heavily discussed Immigration Bill.
“This is to allow people to come to Barbados and live and generally those are people of working age and who are still in their productive years,” she said.
The island must reassess its population policy to attract additional workers, Husbands said.
“What we are doing now is sharing the cost of the country with about 270 000 people. That is not sustainable if half of them are going to be pensioners in a little while so we are doing a number of strategies that are mutually reinforcing to be able to strengthen our capacity to maintain not only the national insurance service but also to enable the government to provide the other range of services offered to citizens.
“That is why it’s important for citizens to understand it is important why we need to be welcoming to people who decide to make Barbados their home. The work that we’re trying to do in terms of upgrading our services and speed and productivity with which we operate in our economic sphere reaches a level that is globally acceptable. So that Barbados is an attractive place for people to come to invest to to come and live, to come and work. That is important.”.
Aiding this much-needed growth in numbers were those who came to the island under the Welcome Stamp initiative to stay and work, as well as the recent free movement arrangement with three other CARICOM nations, the minister said.
Noting that it was too early to accurately measure the impact of these actions on the fund, Husbands said there would be a review every two years in order to make adjustments if necessary.
(JB)
The post National Insurance fund reforms ‘underway amid long-term pressures’ appeared first on Barbados Today.
