The annual rate for pensioners will not be reviewed upwards, says Fiji National Provident Fund chief operations officer Pravinesh Singh.
Speaking in Lautoka recently, Mr Singh explained that the current rates for members under the Retirement Income Fund would have to remain due to the fact that the Fund had enough to cater for current and future pensioners.
“For the Retirement Income Fund we’ve put in close to $300 million worth of bonds to be able to meet future annuities and every time a pensioner decides to put in their pension allocation, from there we are able to meet their monthly annuities,” he said.
“We do not want to be put in a situation where we run out of money from the Retirement Income Fund because that has happened in the past where the pension from our reserve has gone to zero.
“We had to subsidise and if we had continued to subsidise from member funds, the Fund would have been at risk.
“So we do not want a repeat of that situation.”
He said as a result, the Fund created the Pension Fund, which was a separate business entity.
“We have separated the businesses and we have bonds in there to meet your monthly allocations.
“If anything, the current rates will stay for the existing pensioners.
“Just like a member who has retired and comes to us to tell us they want to withdraw their money, we have an obligation to pay them.
“In the same way, if a pensioner comes to us and tells us they want to withdraw the rest of the pension fund, we have an obligation to pay them.
“We do not want an ugly situation where we turn you away because we do not have money.”
