Monthly pension payments set to increase to $725 for Saint Lucians

Castries, Saint Lucia: Monthly pension payments for government pensioners of Saint Lucia is all set to increase to $725 from August 1, 2024. The decision is aimed at benefiting over a hundred pensioners directly from the increase.

The announcement was made by Prime Minister Philip J Pierre during his budget address 2024/2025 who said that the government would set a new minimum pay-out for pensioners. He also promised to review the entire process of the payments periodically and increase in line with salary adjustments in the public service.

The decision has inspired the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) to increase its monthly payments to $500 for its pensioners. Notably, the NIC paid out less than $500 monthly to nearly 2,400 pensioners as before July 2021, the pensioners of the government have been earning less than $314 monthly.

The motion for the pension increase “Pensions Act” has been moved into the parliament on June 18, 2024 under which, the promise has been made to increase the monthly pension payments for government pensioners to $725.

Currently, many pensioners across Saint Lucia have been collecting less than $500 monthly, which was considered insufficient to meet the needs of the citizens about the inflation and everyday consumer goods.

Under the policy of “Putting People First”, the motion has been passed to provide Saint Lucians with better scope of pensions so that they could enhance their lives. The aim behind the increase in the pension is to provide better opportunities to the citizens of Saint Lucia.

The pension scheme would also benefit several families of these pensioners who will get increase payment from August 1, 2024. Prime Minister Philip J Pierre also promised to enhance it in a timely manner so that the system could be monitored efficiently and sufficient increase could be provided to Saint Lucians.

Through the scheme, the pensioners will also be granted with sufficient resources which would recognize their contribution towards the welfare of the society.