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Browne Says Gov’t Will Clear Social Security Arrears, Fund Has Cash Reserves
Prime Minister Gaston Browne has pledged that his government will settle outstanding payments owed to the Social Security Scheme, while insisting that the fund remains financially sound with millions in cash reserves.
Speaking on the Browne and Browne Show, Browne said his administration has already reduced liabilities inherited from both Labour and United Progressive Party (UPP) governments, paying down a $330 million bond to about $218 million.
He confirmed that a new bond deal has been signed to eliminate the remaining arrears.
“We have just signed off on a new deal with Social Security in which the amounts that we owe them now are a hundred and something million dollars. We’re floating a bond shortly, and we’re going to pay them up completely,” Browne said.
The prime minister explained that from 2014 to 2022, his government paid the full amount of premiums owed to Social Security, unlike previous administrations that made only partial payments based on estimates.
He acknowledged, however, that after the COVID-19 pandemic, monthly contributions became inconsistent.
Still, Browne rejected claims that pensions or benefits were at risk, stressing that the scheme had ample liquidity.
“It was not a money issue. At any given point nowadays, Social Security would have probably $35, $40 million in cash.
But everyone has been paid, probably just a few months in arrears now,” he said.
The remarks come amid renewed scrutiny of Social Security’s finances, with the opposition accusing the government of mismanagement. Browne countered that his administration is the first to take meaningful steps to pay down decades of accumulated arrears.
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