How about a no. If this is all due to unfunded public sector liabilities then make them funded. I fund my pension and have my NIB taken out. Time to do the same to the civil servants. If they want to go on strike let them and just lock the door when they leave as it would better to be without them then having to pay the amounts recommended.

The IMF and IDB continue to encourage our doofus governments to borrow willy nilly to fund projects having grossly inflated costs that result in the borrowed funds being paid to the foreign corporations and special interest groups that undertake the projects and which the IMF and IDB effectively represent. These international agencies do not represent (and never have represented) the interests of our nation and the Bahamian people. Our cash strapped governments end up being squeezed into borrowing funds from the National Insurance Fund that it should be holding in trust for retirees. Furthermore, the IMF and IDB are content to standby and watch our governments (whether PLP or FNM) pad the NIB payroll with many unnecessary non-productive employees which has served to exacerbate the bleeding away of national insurance funds that should have been been set aside and properly invested in non-government related endeavours to meet the needs of retiring Bahamian workers. Now the IMF and IDB, after getting successive corrupt governments hooked on borrowing willy nilly, have the gall to tell us (the Bahamian people) that VAT needs to be increased to 15% or more and our National Insurance Fund contributions must be increased to 20% or more. Minnis and Turnquest have already fallen victim to the borrowing teat (tit) placed at their mouths as evidenced by the FNM government racking up more than one billion dollars ($1000,000,000) of additional national debt since taking office only a year ago. This is the height of lunacy and madness!

didn't we blow NIB money bailing out BOB?

We blew NIB money on Bahamas Government registered stock. 41% of NIB portfolio is invested in that worthless paper..

This problem goes back decades - if I recall correctly, the original Cable Beach hotel development in the early 1980s was funded from NIB, and we were assured that the massive profits (LOL) would guarantee our future pensions.

NIB has also built many other buildings for the Gov .... some of them are The Min of health complex on Delancy St, The new customs building and The Min of education building on Thompson Blvd, The sandilands Rehab new extension, The New NHI building on the east west highway, the police HG and dorms in Freeport, The new fire station in Freeport, The new Atorney Gen building on JFK and the next uncompleted building on the side of it, the list goes on.,

We need to first make all new government hires contribute to their own pension plans and try our best to get the current employees to contribute at least something. Next we need to put in more tiers in the contribution system (i.e. people making over $100k should contribute more in dollar terms). For someone making $200k a year to be contributing the same amount in dollars as someone making $40k a year is beyond stupid.

Sickened, why should I be punish because I made a success of my life.

Obviously DEDDIE you are not a Christian, or if you call yourself one, simply don't get the message.
Your SUCCESS came from being born at the right time in history, to the right parents, being able to go to the right school, being born with the brains to achieve what you did achieve, being able to take advantage of all of the resources on this wonderful earth which you had absolutely nothing to do with putting here. I get tired of this stupid, selfish, utterly unacceptable thinking. Obviously, You made a "success" of your life with money, but failed to succeed in your ability to see yourself as you really are; the beneficiary of things which were put here for ALL of our usage, not just those who managed to screw their way to the top..
Your post is typical nowadays DEDDIE, but nonetheless disgusting.

I agree Porcupine ........ You are not judged in (eternal) LIFE by what you get - but what you give ......... and the Good Lord led by example (on the cross).

The minimum wage was raised by 40% about two years ago resulting in a corresponding increase in National Insurance a portion of which had to be paid by businesses. Many haven't yet recovered from this increase and to even suggest additional burden on businesses is like nailing up their door and digging a trench across the parking lot. NIB must seek other means of growing and preserving its revenue. Else there will be no businesses left to dig up in their pockets.

So sad ......... NIB has been abused by politicians ever since it was setup ...... It really became a slush fund in the past 20 years to build low cost homes, build clinics, build public buildings and prop up failing corporations ........ Now that the baby boomers who have done all that damage to NIB is retiring, the X,Y and Millennials are up the creek for their pensions......... SMT

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF NIB MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR NIB MONIES ALONG WITH MANAGEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IF WRONGDOING IS FOUND THEN JAIL TIME. IT IS NONSENSE THAT PERSONS GETTING PAID SHOULD NOT BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR INCOMPETANCE...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And NIB Senior Management is OVERPAID (by Civil Service standards) ..... How can we justify paying those salaries when this is the poor people's contributions??????

I posed a question to a friend the other day, are international agencies frustrated or delighted to be working with three people who know nothing about economics, Minnis, Turnquest and Johnson. Which would you rather, someone who challenges your proposals or someone who accepts everything you say because, you're "smart", have a "white face", "an accent", work for a "fancy titled organization" or a foreign entity? I look at the 20,000 loan that was given to the government to use an untested block chain technology to create a secure content management system and the phrase "*selling ice to an Eskimo*" comes up. For projects like this, if you have the budget, you "might" do some research and development, but you certainly wouldn't start using it to handle some of your more sensitive data, but someone has convinced these three men that doing just that is a great idea. For 200,000 they could have jump started 100-500 legit businesses.

**I don't believe the government understands just yet that the IDB is in the business of selling loans**.

And in the business of controlling resources and governments.

Minnis is a doctor ...... KPT went to Praire View .........and Johnson is a con artist ............. GO FIGGER

all of us know that the kitty is slowly but surely being emptied. we also know that this has been known for a long time. what pees me off is they let it get so far out of control then the only remedy is drastic measures. 1% increase a year would have been easier to digest by employer and employee as oppoosed to recommendations like this, of a doubling. and if they dont act soon to some degree, it will eventually be a tripling of contributions.

But wait just a moment. Isn't Minnis proposing to soon significantly increase the salaries and benefits of parliamentarians?! Yep, Minnis is indeed a monster. He clearly believes it's the politicians' time, the illegal Haitian immigrants' time, the IMF/IDB/OECD's time, anyone and everything else's time, BUT CERTAINLY NOT the Bahamian people's time!!

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2018…

I guess we paid for that too.....

Its the " PEOPLES TIME". Hopefully the current Government will not follow the action taken in 2011 by the "Papa Doc" oh " Papa Ingraham" government that took away all of my NIB pension benefits after contributing since 1974 due to SHAMELESS CORRUPTION AND GROSS MISMANAGEMENT of the NIB Funds. As all interested Bahamians realize, NIB is the "CASH COW" for the Insolvent BOB, after BOB handed out millions of dollars in unsecured and NOW DELINQUENT loans to members of government, their families, friends and lovers. . The past governments have economically raped the Bahamian people through the SHAMELESS CORRUPT POLITICIANS, their Families, friends and many lovers. The IMF, WORLD BANK and all the other world financial agencies are telling Bahamians that they cannot entrust their financial well being to the Government, past, current or future due to CORRUPTION AND MISMANAGEMENT of NIB Contributions (Taxes), VAT or the INEVITABLE income Taxes. .

I would dispense with the idea that we'd ever get the loot back, if, I could get to see a few of them behind bars..