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Public sector workers to make pension contributions
It now seems definite that public sector workers will soon have to foot a portion of their pension contributions.
Most categories of government employees are currently not required to contribute to a pension scheme.
On reaching the age of retirement their pensions are paid directly by the State.
Last year the cash-strapped Government indicated that it was struggling to keep up with pension payments to retired civil servants and was considering the establishment of a defined contributory pension scheme for public sector workers.
With the Government's cash crunch expected to worsen, Finance Minister Audley Shaw says the administration has decided to fast track plans this financial year.
"Mr. Speaker, in terms of pension liabilities, in the 2010/2011 Budget we have made an allocation of $16 billion for retired civil servants' pension. This represents 5% of the total recurrent expenditure Budget. During this fiscal year in discussions with the World Bank, we hope to complete the technical assessment as to whether we should move to a defined contributory scheme," Mr. Shaw said.
Unemployment to trend down
In the meantime, the Finance Minister is predicting that the country's unemployment figures will soon begin to trend down.
Mr. Shaw says the unemployment rate now stands at close to 12%.
"The unemployment rate increased from 10% in October 2008 to 11.6% in October 2009 due to the fall out from the global recession. With the methods contained in our economics recovery programme we expect this trend in unemployment to reverse as more jobs are created in the economy," he said.
http://www.radiojamaica.com/content/view/26446/52/
It now seems definite that public sector workers will soon have to foot a portion of their pension contributions.
Most categories of government employees are currently not required to contribute to a pension scheme.
On reaching the age of retirement their pensions are paid directly by the State.
Last year the cash-strapped Government indicated that it was struggling to keep up with pension payments to retired civil servants and was considering the establishment of a defined contributory pension scheme for public sector workers.
With the Government's cash crunch expected to worsen, Finance Minister Audley Shaw says the administration has decided to fast track plans this financial year.
"Mr. Speaker, in terms of pension liabilities, in the 2010/2011 Budget we have made an allocation of $16 billion for retired civil servants' pension. This represents 5% of the total recurrent expenditure Budget. During this fiscal year in discussions with the World Bank, we hope to complete the technical assessment as to whether we should move to a defined contributory scheme," Mr. Shaw said.
Unemployment to trend down
In the meantime, the Finance Minister is predicting that the country's unemployment figures will soon begin to trend down.
Mr. Shaw says the unemployment rate now stands at close to 12%.
"The unemployment rate increased from 10% in October 2008 to 11.6% in October 2009 due to the fall out from the global recession. With the methods contained in our economics recovery programme we expect this trend in unemployment to reverse as more jobs are created in the economy," he said.
http://www.radiojamaica.com/content/view/26446/52/
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