NIS staring at massive $1.4B shortfall this year

Oct 01, 2012 News

– 27,000 employers registered but only 6,100 are paying

The troubled state-owned multi-billion pension fund is staring at a massive $1.4B shortfall this year.
A dwindling workforce and across-the-board non-compliance with contributions are among the major reasons given for the current state at the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).
The scheme’s General Manager, Doreen Nelson, in a published anniversary message in Kaieteur News over the weekend, echoed the board’s worry over the future of the fund.
It would also be a major worry for thousands of Guyanese who depend on the NIS pensions and benefits to make ends meet.
According to the official, a brief review of NIS performance so far for this year indicates that contributions collected between January to August, 2012 totaled approximately $7.736B while total expenditure over the same period was around $8.393B. The projections to the end of the year show that income from contributions would be $11.553B while the projected expenditure $12.952B.
This meant that expenses would outstrip contributions by nearly $1.4B.

NIS’ General Manager, Doreen Nelson

NIS operates out of 14 offices countrywide, providing social security to over 45,000 pensioners. Some 66 percent of these, the General Manager said, are old age pensioners while about 28 percent benefit from survivors’ pensions.
“Some 29 percent of the pensioners live overseas. At the beginning of the year, the amount of minimum pension for old age and invalidity was increased by 8 percent from $16,604 to $17,932 a month.”
Another worrisome factor is that while over the years, NIS registered 27,000 employers, only 6,100 are remitting contributions to the scheme on behalf of their employees. For employed persons, the number registered to date is over 650,000 with the active being approximately 117,000, less than a fifth.
With respect to the self employed, there are over 29,000 registered to date but just approximately 8500 or 30 percent are active and remitting contributions to the scheme.
The amount paid as benefits during 2011 was $10.7B and it is projected that for 2012, the amount will increase to $11.4B. The Pension Branch, Old age, Invalidity, Survivors- account for approximately 85 percent of these payments.
According to Nelson, the trend continues to show that as predicted in the last Actuarial Review of the scheme, the organisation’s expenditure on benefits and the management of these benefits already exceed the income received from contributions and that unless there are immediate interventions the gap will widen.
Several reasons have already been advanced for this scenario and it has been the subject of attention and these remain valid.
Inclusive in this are “an apparently dwindling structured workforce, an expanding informal workforce that is not complying with the NIS regulations, non-registration of employees by certain industries and the reluctance of many self-employed persons to register and remit contributions in accordance with the law.”
According to the NIS official, these together with an ever ageing population and smaller return on investments are causes for concern about the future of the scheme.
“It is hoped that the findings and recommendations of the 8th Actuarial Review of the fund, now being completed, would provide the necessary interventions that would ensure the sustainability of the scheme.”
Backlogs in processing are being tackled along with attempts to improve record-keeping.
“Efforts have been made and are continuing to be made for better systems of record keeping under computerizations of our operations, aggressive monitoring of the employer and self-employed populations for accurate and timely remittance of contributions and pensioners.
The focus on staff training will be maintained to ensure courteous and informed service to the public.”
Nelson urged contributors who are not yet submitting contribution payments via the electronic schedule system to do so early in order to benefit from timely and accurate response to claims and other matters.
“The management of the NIS remains aware of its obligations and responsibilities to the workers of this nation and is prepared for the challenges that will be encountered along the way to fulfilling our mission and ensuring accountability.”
Last week, NIS’s Board of Directors had also warned that NIS is in trouble and solutions to a fast-approaching crisis is needed…urgently.
NIS has invested some of the funds in areas like the Berbice Bridge but these are clearly not enough.