S.S.B. Hoping Deferred 1% Increase in Contributions Can Begin Soon

Chandra Nisbet-Cansino

The shortfall that Cansino spoke of and the huge payouts the S.S.B. has had to make have placed the S.S.B. in a precarious position.  Now that the economy is gradually rebounding, S.S.B. says the planned one percent increase that was deferred due to COVID is needed even more than it was in pre-COVID times.

Chandra Cansino, Gen. Mgr., Corporate Customer Relations Services, S.S.B.

“I think the plan is to put a request to the Prime Minister under whose Ministry we fall, to see if the one percent will be implemented in January of 2022.”

Marion Ali

“Might there be concerns still coming from employers and employees, considering that we’re still not back to where we were pre-COVID era and some people are still not making what they were then and some businesses are not doing as well as well as then.”

Chandra Nisbet-Cansino

“Yes, most certainly, we expect that to be a part of the dialogue and so I think probably the Ministry of Finance themselves will have to look at all of the different circumstances and be able to let us know if indeed we would be able to implement the last part of the contribution reform for 2022.”

Marion Ali

“And if that’s not possible just yet, then how will S.S.B. manage?”

Chandra Nisbet-Cansino

“Well, it puts us in a critical state again because remember the reform is based on sustainability.”

Currently, under the contributions reform, employers and employees are paying nine percent of employees’ insurable earnings.  S.S.B. estimates it will pay out some ninety-eight million dollars by the end of this year, mostly in pensions. News Five will bring you the Social Security Fund’s scholarship signing event later in this newscast.