Social Security Board Chairman Douglas Singh says there may be good news for pensioners in Belize:
“Well that has been worked on to a great extent. You can’t just give the increase. You have to have the Actuary who comes to Belize once a year or so and he does the analysis to determine what you can and cannot do. The Actuary has released his report to the board; I believe it was at the last board meeting, if it wasn’t the board meeting before that. The board then asked him, what then, within the structures of the fund can we recommend to the Prime Minister to offer pensioners without compromising the fund and he has said what will have what impact on the fund. The letter has been drafted for the Prime Minister SINGH ON SSB pic 1but this is not really a political thing. The Prime Minister had no input in it essentially. It is the board making a recommendation to the Prime Minister that he approves a pension and so that is in the process and so the letter has been drafted and it is just a matter of giving it to him. The recommendation is for the pension increase to be effective for January of next year so it wouldn’t be a political ploy of putting something in someone’s hand anyway. It’s a responsible action and it takes time to put the administration in place to adjust the pension.”
RENEE TRUJILLO
“Would you be able to say what the proposed figure is?”
DOUG SINGH
“No, I can’t do that as yet because we haven’t even recommended it to the Prime Minister as yet. We’ve got the letter drafted, he hasn’t actually received it yet and he should get it anytime now.”
The last increase for pensioners was in 2002 when a twenty percent raise was given. That increase took the yearly pension to a minimum of two thousand four hundred and forty four dollars, equivalent to about two hundred dollars monthly. Pensioners who qualify for this money, are those between sixty and sixty four years old and not employed or you can be employed but be sixty five years or older. In addition to that you must have a total of five hundred paid and credited contributions. For those not qualifying, there is the possibility of a one-time Retirement Grant that they can receive. Meanwhile for women, aged sixty five years or older or men sixty seven years of older, there is the non-contributory pension which is one hundred dollars monthly. This program at the SSB is for those who have no source of income or inadequate means of support.
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