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THE National Social Security Authority (NSSA) said yesterday it paid out $149 million in benefits to its members in 2013, up 28 percent the previous year, spiked by an increase in retrenchments and minimum pension pay-outs.
“The increase in benefits was largely attributable to the increase in minimum pensions which came into effect on August 1, 2013, an increase in the number of beneficiaries and the increase in the maximum insurable earnings limit,” the institution said.

NSSA, a compulsory government pension scheme for all workers, said in its December 2013 financial results released yesterday the number of formally employed workers contributing to the scheme dropped to 1,208,402 in 2013 from 1,322,228 in 2012.

The minimum pension pay-out was doubled to $60 per month last year. In the period, the number of pension fund beneficiaries increased to 167,926 from 152,952 in 2012 while the workers’ compensation insurance fund beneficiaries increased from 7,257 in 2012 to 9,313 in 2013.

Benefits that were paid out included retirement, invalidity and survivor’s benefits as well as workers’ compensation insurance fund claims.
NSSA said income from pension contributions went up 27 percent to $173.4 million while its assets surged 17 percent to $1.03 billion for the first time since the introduction of multi-currencies in 2009.

The authority’s chairman, Ngoni Masoka, bemoaned the continued closure of companies in the economy which saw 75 companies closing shop in the review period, putting nearly 9,000 workers out of employment.

“This is a major concern for the authority, as it is likely to affect pension benefit levels payable to the affected employees on retirement,” Masoka said.
He also bemoaned declining industry productivity in the economy which meant that companies were compromising on workers’ safety. “Capacity utilisation fell in 2013 to 39.6 percent as compared to 44 percent in 2012. It would appear that occupational safety and health performance suffers greatly when the economy is not performing well,” he said.

NSSA general manager James Matiza said the institution’s investment income however went down 21 percent to $24 million.
“The income was mainly made up of money market interest and rental income, since equities remained subdued,” he said.

He said operational expenses jumped five percent to $43.9 million in 2013.
In the review period, Matiza said NSSA had recorded a total of 5,666 serious occupational injuries up from 5,141 the previous year.
Fatalities were, however, down to 78 from 103 the previous year. – New Ziana.