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With the first quarter of 2013 coming to an end, management of the troubled National Insurance Scheme (NIS) is not compelled to implement recommendations in its Eighth Actuarial Review, an independent analysis as of the fund at December 31, 2011.In fact, not all recommendations in the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh reports were implemented, says Dr. Roger Luncheon, Chairman of NIS Board.Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger LuncheonIt was reported late last year, in the Eighth Actuarial Review, that the insurance scheme was nearing crisis stage and funds will be exhausted in less than 10 years, unless contribution rates and benefits reforms are done immediately.The review recommended an increase of the contribution rate from 13 percent to 15 percent no later than January 2013; increase in the monthly wage to $200,000; and the pensionable age should also be raised from 60 to 65 years on a phased basis and there should be a freeze on pension increase for two years until the contribution rate is increased and finances improve.According to Dr. Luncheon, the actuary only makes recommendations and does not have the authority to see the Administration implement those recommendations. ��e shouldn�� assume that there is a nexus between a recommendation and implementation.��e said that only some recommendations in the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh reports were acceded to while many were not implemented.However, in the Eighth Actuarial Review the Administration criticized the National Insurance Reform Committee for failing to make critical changes that were recommended from the 2007 review. The reform committee was established to look at the NIS and provide guidelines as to the way forward from the 2007 report.��owever, no meaningful changes emanating from either of these reports have been made,jerseys nfl wholesale,��this recent assessment found.According to the Chairman, the recommendations have since been in the public domain via consultations with various target groups including private sector and pensioners. Feedback from those interactions is mixed and is being considered.��e had people who resisted, violently, the notion that my pension is at 60 years now I have to wait till I am 65 years.� These are the public servants, who insist that if I now get my pension at 60 I have to wait five more years.��hen there is the private sector; whenever an increase in contribution rates surfaces, the way in which we allocate responsibilities to payment is almost a 2:1 ratio- two parts for the employer and one part for the employee.��f course everybody sees the NIS contribution as a tax,��he explained.Dr. Luncheon said that in April 2012 the Administration made a commitment to draw to the Parliament�� attention what precisely would be the way forward for the NIS. He noted that NIS in its 2013 Budget would provide some indications as to what the board is planning. |
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