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A massive shortfall in the Contributory Pension Fund could force the raising of the retirement age to 70 and increased payments into the scheme, the finance minister signalled today.

Curtis Dickinson told MPs that an actuarial review of the CPF’s performance between 2017-2020 had recommended major changes to stop it from becoming “exhausted” in 2044 – three years earlier than predicted.

He said: “The CPF is the first pillar of retirement income and the benefits from this fund, together with other pensions, are important to the ongoing financial stability and security, as well as health, of the seniors in our society.

Recommendations in the Contributory Pension Fund Actuarial Report include increasing “contribution rates at higher than 4.0% a year more than benefit increases” and increasing the “retirement age to 70 years over a predefined period of at least 8 years.”

This was from Minister of Finance Curtis Dickinson as he tabled the Contributory Pension Fund Actuarial Report [PDF] as at August 1st, 2020. in the House of Assembly on Friday [Feb 4], with the Minister noting that the number of contributors has declined from 35,889 in 2017 to 34,629 in 2020, a decrease of over 1,200.