The Fiji National Provident Fund pensioners who hand delivered a petition to the Prime Minister’s Office requesting for an independent inquiry into the pension cuts for the current pensioners, are still waiting for a reply from the Prime Minister.
One of the spokespersons for the pensioners, Pratap Singh said they are eagerly awaiting the response from the Prime Minister as FNPF has made the same comments after they handed in their petition last week.
Singh has also disputed the comments made by FNPF, saying the Fund should focus on honoring their binding contracts rather than attacking pensioners for receiving the agreed 25% or 15% annual pension rates.
FNPF said that of around 11,000 pensioners, only 420 people signed the petition, and only 100 of them are actually pensioners.
FNPF CEO, Aisake Taito said the reality is that FNPF is self-funded and to continue with the old pension arrangement would mean that current and future members would continue to fund future pensioners.
He said every time a member retires at 55 years and converts $20,000 to a pension, FNPF has to find a further $60,000 if the pension rate is 25%, and a further $20,000 if the pension rate is 15%.
FNPF said the vast majority of pensioners have accepted the new scheme and the current 278,000 members who have yet to retire will no longer be called upon to pay for the pensions.
Those receiving annual pensions at 25% or 15% will be receiving about 9% annually under the new scheme.
Story by: Vijay Narayan
Feature
FNPF pensioners await reply from PM
