–with $10 billion injection, Dr. Jagdeo says

PERSONS who have not met the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contribution requirement to receive pensions will soon benefit from a lump-sum payment as part of the cash injection that will be made to the scheme.

This is according to General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, who was at the time speaking on President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s recent announcement of a $10 billion injection for the NIS.

Dr. Jagdeo, during a press conference on Thursday said that this $10 billion is being set aside to deal with those who have been contributing for many years to the NIS, but did not make the 750 contributions necessary to qualify for the NIS pension.

“Some of those people were not to be blamed, because many times their employers never deducted or deducted and never transmitted their deductions to the NIS on their behalf, and they were not aware of this until they retire and then sought to collect their pension, and they’re told you don’t have the contributions,” he said.

Against this backdrop, he said that there are tens of thousands of Guyanese who have made those contributions in the past, and never got a single benefit from the NIS.

As such, he disclosed, “So, the $10 billion will go to those people through a lump-sum payment. Since they can’t qualify for the pension, they will each get a lump-sum payment, so that, hopefully, it would offset their contributions that they have made over the many years to the country, and to the NIS itself.”
While noting that it is a sad situation which has left many persons disadvantaged, he indicated that they are now working out a model as to how this process could be carried out in a fair way across the country.

Once that is completed, and the simulations of the different scenarios are done, the beginning of the process will be announced, and those persons will receive their lump sum payment.

Meanwhile, apart from this, the general secretary said that the government also intends to make a big cash injection to the NIS itself, as for years the scheme has been paying out more benefits than it has been receiving in contributions.

This, he noted, puts the Fund at risk, and as such, the injection will ensure that future generations can receive their pensions, and keep the NIS from going bankrupt.

“So, the government has undertaken to also fill the gap for the NIS, for those pensioners who will continue to receive pension over the many years to come,” Dr. Jagdeo said.

Earlier this month, President Dr. Irfaan Ali, during a special address to the National Assembly, announced that the government has set aside some $10 billion for the NIS as part of measures to assist Guyana’s elderly, specifically those persons who have not made adequate contributions to the scheme.