Rolle confident NIB has enough resources to meet commitments

Public Services and National Insurance Minister Brensil Rolle.

As of Thursday, December 5, 2019

By RIEL MAJOR

Tribune Staff Reporter

rmajor@tribunemedia.net

DESPITE mounting pressure on the National Insurance Fund brought on by the passing of Hurricane Dorian, Public Service and National Insurance Minister Brensil Rolle said the National Insurance Board has sufficient resources to meet its commitments.

Mr Rolle told reporters outside of Cabinet on Tuesday that there is a strain on the fund due to the gap in contributions and benefit payouts. He said officials will aggressively target those who have outstanding contributions to ensure the viability of the fund.

He said: “The fund may decrease. I’m not too concerned about the statements at this time. I think we have sufficient (resources) to make our payments and meet our commitments. Again, it may mean that we may have to aggressively go after individuals who have contributions to make.

“The process is seeking its course. We are looking at how we can get from these individuals the payments that they received from individuals who worked for them.”

In terms of seeking payments from those who owe them, the minister said there have not been any major prosecutions carried out by NIB, noting there were some “low level” court actions being carried out.

Mr Rolle said: “We (are) giving (employers) the opportunity to settle with NIB (outside of court).”

Earlier this week, NIB released a press statement that noted for the 2020 period, management is projecting a sizeable deficit between contributions income and benefit payments, consistent with actuarial projections for the National Insurance Fund.

“Further pressure has been placed on the fund in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, which has left many Bahamians unemployed, and contributing businesses closed on the second and third largest economies of the Bahamas. Management has sought to prudently manage NIB’s resources by slowing the growth of administrative expenses while preserving the staff complement,” the statement said.

“Management accepts that the path to improved sustainability is difficult and unpopular but is necessary for the overall benefit of the thousands of Bahamians who depend on the fund. Notwithstanding the protests by the union, management will continue to focus on its core mission of providing benefit payments to its beneficiaries, and to improving its service delivery.”

hrysippus 4 years, 4 months ago

In the short term what the honourable minister is asserting is almost certainly correct however it is the longer term viability of the fund that is the problem. It has been mismanaged for decades. how much are the bob shares worth now? How much income did the nib fund accrue through their purchase?

Chucky 4 years, 4 months ago

The minister in effect has admitted that the fund is essentially empty! The balance is zero, robbed and picked clean by government thieves.

National pension funds, workers compensation funds are usually some of the wealthiest funds in existence.

It’s no wonder they been going after delinquent people so hard, barely enough coming on each month to match payments due, ain’t no money in the bank.

We can all kiss that pension goodbye.

Where did all the money go; bat money, nib money, and all the other money.

We can not afford to borrow to fund this, this is a fund that will never serve its suggested purpose

We should take a stand and protest and refuse to continue to pay in, they just steal all the money anyhow.

Hoda 4 years, 4 months ago

These issues are not new to public service pensions. These are issues public pensions across the world have to address on occasion.

Every civil servant getting a pension - from the doorman go up, from the people who is only work from about 10 to 3 and take 3 lunch breaks a day - perhaps that's why conservative governments across the world often to take the hard and unfavorable decision to cut the pubic service down. The government also happens to be one of the largest employers in this country. We already know what happens when you try to cut down the size of the public service around here.

Well_mudda_take_sic 4 years, 4 months ago

For decades now the National Insurance Fund (the Fund) has been raped, pillaged and plundered by PLP and FNM governments alike. We have Poodling, Hubiggity, Vomit and now Doofus Doc to thank for that simple fact. They each contributed greatly to the Fund being operated like a Ponzi scheme for the benefit of the political elite and their cronies, leaving it technically bankrupt and now strapped for cash to meet its obligations.

Increasing contribution rates and the level of pay subject to contribution rates is no longer a viable option for bailing out the Fund for three key reasons:

1) The ever increasing number of benefit recipients relative to the number of working contributors;

2) The huge chasm that has developed in our society between "the haves" and "the have nots", with the latter comprising the vast majority of the work force earning much less today on an inflation adjusted basis than previous generations since the introduction of National Insurance; and

3) The culturally ingrained and pervasive level of fraud, waste and mismangement that history has proven will never be stamped out under a PLP or FNM government.

The monies paid into the Fund were supposed to have been held in a fiduciary capacity, prudently invested and properly managed for the future benefit of the contributors. That did not happen and instead Poodling, Hubiggity, Vomit, Doofus Doc and successive NIB directors have all treated the Fund as a free-to-use cookie jar for the political elite and their cronies and friends.

For the above reasons, the Doofus Doc (Minnis) and his Incompetent Bean Counter (Turnquest) can be expected to soon announce that the National Insurance Fund needs to be bailed-out by the taxpayers to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, in much the same way that taxpayers have been and are still being forced to bail-out the bankrupt Bank of The Bahamas. Minnis and Turnquest will of course seek to employ a great deal of smoke and mirrors, special purpose vehicles and the like in order to bamboozle as much as possible the public's the required bail-out the technically insolvent National Insurance Fund.

Of course one of the key features of the bail-out will include a significant reduction in the future benefits of those working persons who will be saddled with the bail-out costs for persons already receiving benefit payments. Such is the very unfair price for working citizens of years and years of massive government corruption. I can just hear Tweedle-Dumb Minnis and Tweedle-Dee Turnquest blaming the need for a taxpayer bail-out of the National Insurance Fund on Hurricane Dorian. Dorian has become their go to excuse for any and everything these days.

Chucky 4 years, 4 months ago

Sad part of all that is one cannot bailout oneself. Ie, no matter how much you take from the tax payer, less is always given back.

So tax the people a billion so that we can have a net gain of about 75% of that in the nib kitty.

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