No word on minimum pension rise despite NIS “making surpluses”

Although the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) on Wednesday boasted that it was making profitable investments, there was no definitive word on when that social security agency would be increasing its minimum pension.

The NIS website says the minimum Old Age pension moved from GY$35,000 in 2020 to GY$43,075 per month on January 1, 2025.

The minimum public service salary is now GY$102,346.

Board Chairman Ramesh Persaud deferred questions on the subject to finance minister Dr Ashni Singh who did not comment on the subject.

“That is in the domain of the Minister of Finance to provide guidance on…The Board is independent but the structure of the NIS is that it is under the administration of the Ministry of Finance and those fiscal and policy decisions are guided by the Minister of Finance,” Mr Persaud told Demerara Waves Online News.

President Irfaan Ali, in an invited comment, said that, broadly, his government was committed to improving social welfare schemes such as the universal cash grants for all resident Guyanese 18 years and older, school children, disabled persons, old age pensioners and vulnerable persons.

“The ecosystem surrounding different segments of the population, including the pensioners, is being continuously analysed so I would say as the year’s analysis continues in the new budget and subsequent budgets, we will continue to look at ways in which we can improve and expand social benefits to the population,” he said.

While noting that the government had already announced all its budget measures for 2026, he did not rule out an increase in NIS pensions but did not say specifically when that would be done.

“We are not only looking at this from a single barrel perspective. We are looking at this from a wholistic perspective and whilst we have concluded our policy initiative for 2026, we are continuously looking at these issues and at the appropriate time, once the economy can afford it and once it falls in the broader framework of social support, we will be looking at it,” Dr Ali told Demerara Waves Online.

At a brief ceremony to announce that NIS pension is now payable through Mobile Money Guyana, Money Gram and Bill Express, the NIS Board chairman said, “The NIS…is in a very strong position today for the last five years. The NIS has been making surpluses that we are reinvesting for the future pensioners of the organisation, and again, I think that that’s a very well-meaning accomplishment.”

Officials said that 57-year old social security entity was benefiting from increased economic activity in new and old sectors.

The finance minister said the NIS has added almost 70,000 new contributors, amounting to a 38 percent increase over the past five and half years.

He also said the number of self-employed persons, who had joined the NIS, had doubled over the same period to almost 9,000.

“These numbers reflect the dynamics in the Guyanese economy because more persons are working, more persons are employed, more employment opportunities, there’s more investment, private investment, more employment opportunities are being created, more persons are working, more entrepreneurial opportunities are being created, and more persons are entering entrepreneurial activities and becoming self-employed persons,” he said.