Barbadians can rest assured that the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) is in good hands and will not be going bankrupt any time soon.
Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Richard Sealy, noted the above while in the House of Assembly on Tuesday. He was at the time making his contribution to debate on the National Insurance and Social Security (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
“The National Insurance Scheme is in good hands. The Actuarial Review is about to be released, the 15th one and the truth is as we have heard, there’s nothing for us to get flustered about in this Actuarial Review,” Sealy commented.
“The issue that we confront is the issue that the Rt. Hon. Member for St. Peter (Owen Arthur) confronted and for that matter, (former prime minister) Sir Lloyd (Erskine Sandiford) in his administration would have confronted. Barbados is ageing and therefore, the working base that has to provide benefits for our senior citizens is shrinking … and it means that we have to make some difficult
decisions as well,” he continued.
“We don’t want to adjust the rates beyond what they have to be, but the truth is, at some point in time, National Insurance rates will probably have to be looked at as well. It is the reality. We have had to deal with the retirement age issue and make adjustments there, but if you are going to make sure that the Fund remains viable, then you have to be prepared to make those decisions,” he maintained.
He meanwhile took issue with statements made by Opposition Member of Parliament for St. George South, Dwight Sutherland, who suggested that Government is mismanaging NIS funds and the Scheme will be in trouble in a few years’ time.
“At the National Insurance Scheme they work hard … and I think that they need to hear from this Chamber that they are appreciated. They don’t need to hear that the place is going to be bankrupt in another couple of years. That is not true to begin with and it can be demotivating,” Sealy stressed.
“These people are working very hard. Yes, there have been some issues. (We) invested heavily in a computer network; there were glitches and so on. We don’t delight in hearing pensioners are getting their cheques a bit late and so on, but we have to obviously invest in the necessary technology to manage the ever-growing base of beneficiaries and I think that has to be taken into context. (But) it is a well-run organisation, offering a comprehensive range of different services,” Sealy said. (RSM)