NASSAU, BAHAMAS- The National Insurance Board (NIB) has narrowed its deficit from a projected $26 million to about $15 million, however Director Dr. Tami Francis noted that the fund would have no deficit at all if all large tax payers were fully compliant with their obligations.
Speaking at the Large Taxpayer Symposium hosted by the Department of Inland Revenue at Baha Mar on Wednesday, Dr. Francis said the board continues to pay out significantly more than it collects, even as contribution rates rise.
“It’s no secret that we are paying out more than we are taking in,” she told attendees. “On a monthly basis, the National Insurance Board is paying out in pensions—we pay about $50,000. We are paying out approximately$36 million in total benefits, about $31 million earmarked for pensions.”
Despite sustained pressure on the fund, Dr. Francis said NIB’s financial position has improved due to incremental reforms.
“We are performing a lot better than projected as we increase our contribution rate,” she said. “While we are still operating at a deficit, at this point we would have projected to be at a deficit of $26-$27 million; we have closed that gap to about $15million. There are still a lot of funds out there to be collected, said Dr Francis.
Dr. Francis stressed that greater employer compliance remains critical to stabilizing the fund. She noted that many businesses remain behind on contributions, particularly large employers whose arrears became woefully apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We saw this come full circle during the pandemic—large taxpayers not being compliant,” she said. “Many employees were at NIB’s doorsteps. We found there were many large employers who were not compliant, and this had a domino effect.”
Despite that, Dr. Francis said NIB continued fulfilling its mandate out of principle. “Due to the fact that we are the National Insurance, and operate on the spirit of solidarity, there were many employers who did not make right with NIB, but we still went ahead and made those payments to many individuals from many large taxpayers.”
She further noted: “If in fact every taxpayer, large taxpayer, was compliant with NIB, we would not have the deficit that you see,” she said. “If in fact we are able to collect all of those contributions that are out there, we would be able to eradicate our deficit and move into a surplus.”
Dr Francis also urged employers to follow proper procedures when interacting with NIB offices, saying administrative non-compliance creates delays that ultimately affect workers.
“To make your visit to any NIB office as seamless as possible, there are some things that we need you to do… when you come in and we ask you for certain things, many times we get pushback,” she said.
She warned that inaccurate or incomplete contribution statements (C10s) and employer record issues often extend pension processing times from months to years.
