TTT Live Online Finance Minister: NIS Reforms Needed To Stop Fund Collapse

Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo is defending two major National Insurance System (NIS) reforms: raising the pensionable age and increasing contribution rates, insisting they were unavoidable steps to prevent the National Insurance Fund from collapsing within the next decade.

Speaking in the Lower House on Friday, he said actuarial reviews showed the Fund was on track for exhaustion by 2033–2034 unless immediate action was taken.

Arguing that the decisions were guided by data, he noted that both reforms are essential to slowing the rate at which liabilities outpace revenues.

“By increasing contributions, we bolster the inflows so that support is not just retirement pensions, but maternity and survivor’s benefits, protections upon which families across Trinidad and Tobago depend. Mr. Speaker, combined, these reforms help to slow the rate at which liabilities grow faster than revenues, preserve the accumulated reserves of the National Insurance Fund, and protect the promise of social insurance for today’s workers and tomorrow’s retirees. This is prudent Governance.”

He framed Government’s intervention as an act of responsibility intended to safeguard future generations.

“The measures introduced in the 2026 Budget were not optional. They were necessary, responsible, and grounded in data. When reserves were being drawn down annually, responsible leadership acts. When pension sustainability is at risk, responsible leadership does not postpone. When the future of workers and pensioners is on the line, responsible leadership does not play politics.”

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