Prime Minister Mia Mottley says Barbados is nowhere near a crisis situation where the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) is concerned, even as she acknowledged that urgent action is needed to avoid reaching that stage.
Speaking on Wednesday at a press conference about the future of the National Insurance Fund, Mottley said early intervention was critical.
“We are not in crisis, but we want to avoid a crisis 15 years from now. That is therefore going to mean that those of us who have the responsibility for taking decisions can do so at the earliest possible opportunity.
“There are countries in the Caribbean that are five or six years away from the moment that we are talking about. We don’t want that to happen to us,” the prime minister said.
She further pointed to the United States where the government has to contribute annually to keep its social security system afloat.
“The numbers for that is about 0.7 per cent of GDP. If I were to equate that to Barbados, it would mean that we would be putting in, at the moment, about BDS$70 to $75 million (US$35 to $37.5 million) a year in order to keep our National Insurance afloat. We are not doing that, nor are we there and we don’t want ever to be there, hence these early discussions,” Mottley said.
The prime minister assured the public that the NIS is in a position to satisfy all claims made on it legitimately, today.
Deputy chairman of the National Insurance Board Rawdon Adams also promised Barbadians that while government is acting now to avoid the depletion of the National Insurance Fund, they do not have to worry that they are going to lose any of their benefits “overnight”.
He said it would take another 12 to 19 years before the fund is depleted.
“The fund itself at BDS$3.9 billion (US$1.85 billion) is nearly five times what the current expenditures on benefits are. It’s not a fund that’s going to fall over. Nobody is going to lose their benefits overnight because of what we’re talking about here. We’re not kicking the can down the road. We have time to fix this. We are approaching it methodically inclusive of everybody that we speak to, we want them to participate in it,” Adams explained.
He noted that an aging population, a declining workforce, and slow economic growth rates were some of the major factors contributing to the depletion of the Fund.
Minister of Labour, Social Security and Third Sector Colin Jordan said the government will soon be soliciting written submissions from the public.
He added that town hall meetings will be convened to gain as much input as possible from the public.
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