SSB Reports $166 Million in Income at Annual Public Forum; Focus on Growing Pension Fund

The Social Security Board held its annual public forum today to report on the organization’s performance for the past year. The forum gathered stakeholders from across the country for reports and panel discussions surrounding various aspects of the social security scheme, including protection for the elderly. The forum is critical as the SSB uses it to account for millions of dollars’ worth of public funds. The SSB reported its income at a hundred and sixty-six million dollars, with a net of fifty million added to the reserves. This means that the SSB has money to invest with the aim of growing the fund to ensure the continuation of social protection benefits such as pensions. Outgoing CEO of the SSB, Deborah Ruiz notes that there are currently over fourteen thousand people receiving a monthly pension. Leticia Vega, General Manager of Policy, Research, and Actuary Services of the SSB, explained the functions of the SSB and shared some of the challenges the board faced last year.  

Deborah Ruiz, CEO, Social Security Board:  “We are reporting our income at $166 million and we have a net of $50 million that is added to our reserves. What that means for us now is that we have a very, as I have been keep saying, that we have money to invest and so the Actuary is currently presenting on what that means in terms of that we need a real rate of return of a minimum to meet our investment needs in order to sustain the long-term branch. The long-term branch includes payment of pensions. Right now we have over 14,000 persons receiving a monthly contributory pension and the statistics have indicated that the population will continue to age. So we need to grow the funds now to put people to work to contribute and cover the various social protection systems that we have in place.”

The SSB Connect was held at the Best Western.  It was streamed live on social media.