Simpson Miller
The Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) yesterday declaring a need for closure on important national issues, criticised finance minister Dr. Omar Davies for his non-responsiveness and called on his boss Portia Simpson Miller to clarify the programme of loans to small businesses.
The JCC, in a press statement issued Tuesday at its board meeting, said it has been seeking clarification on the $1.1 billion loan fund to be financed from 'NIS surplus'.
Assurances
The company bosses indicated that they wanted assurances that govern-ment was not taking too big a risk with the pension funds.
But, the JCC said it has not received a response from Davies, whom they wrote five months ago, requesting clarification on:
Whether the money being borrowed was in fact an actuarial surplus;
Whether the NIS would be subjected to the regulatory supervision of the Financial Service Commission;
whether the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) funds would be invested in potentially risky loan schemes.
"Our questions were guided by the consideration that, as with any pension fund that is prudently managed, the primary concern should be the welfare of the beneficiaries," said the statement by president Mark Myers and his four vice-presidents. "It should not focus on fuelling economic development via use of funds to establish a loan scheme to finance small businesses."
According to the press release, the JCC also wrote to Prime Minister Simpson Miller last November, and yesterday called on her to clarify the issues raised, although she, too, had not responded to their correspondence in November.
The NIS has over $40 billion in assets, of which approximately $26 billion is invested in government instruments. An actuarial report was produced on the fund late last year but the Ministry of Labour and Social Security has not made the document nor its findings public.
During the budget debate last year, PM Simpson Miller an-nounced that the govern-ment would dip into the NIS fund to provide low-cost financing for small businesses.
business@gleanerjm.com
