SSNIT Increases Pension By 11 Percent

By Jonathan Donkor

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has announced an 11 per cent increase in monthly pension payments for this year.

Effective this month, all pensioners on the Trust's payroll would enjoy nine per cent increase in their benefits as fixed rate.

The remaining two per cent would be redistributed as a flat amount of GH¢15.89 across board to benefit those earning lower pension benefits.

The annual review, pegged at 10 per cent last year, was announced by the Chief Actuary of the Trust, Mr Stephen Yeboah at a press briefing in Accra yesterday.

He said the new minimum monthly pension for the year was GH¢300, which is almost GH¢13 shy of the national daily minimum wage of GH¢287.55.

He disclosed that the extra cost to be incurred by the Trust for existing pensioners in 2019 was GH¢212.16 million.

The increase in pension payment known as pension indexation is an annual exercise done by the Trust to ensure that pensioners maintained their purchasing power.

It is done in consultation with the SSNIT Board and the National Pensions Regulatory Authority in accordance with the National Pensions Act, 2008(Act 766).

Mr Yeboah said factors that influenced the indexation were the average salary growth of active contributors of 12.66 per cent and annual variegate change in consumer Price Index of 9.50 per cent.

He added that financial implication on the fund in terms of liquidity and sustainability of the scheme was another factor.

The Director-General of SSNIT, Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang said the Trust would continue to work hard to guarantee annual indexation bearing in mind the long term sustainability of the scheme.

He said the Trust was well-resourced to pay the new increases adding that "SSNIT is committed to improving its service delivery and consolidating the gains made within the last two years".

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