{"id":65653,"date":"2024-03-29T18:44:46","date_gmt":"2024-03-29T18:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/increase-in-pensions-would-have-cost-taxpayers-an-extra-n5-2-billion"},"modified":"2024-03-29T19:59:08","modified_gmt":"2024-03-29T19:59:08","slug":"increase-in-pensions-would-have-cost-taxpayers-an-extra-n5-2-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/increase-in-pensions-would-have-cost-taxpayers-an-extra-n5-2-billion","title":{"rendered":"Increase in pensions would have cost taxpayers an extra N$5.2 billion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>Finance and Public Enterprise Minister, Iipumbu Shiimi, says if the government was to honour the wish of late President Hage Geingob to increase old age pension to N$3,000, then an additional N$5.2 billion would have had to be availed compared to the current allocated N$4.8 billion for the 2024\/25 financial year<\/p>\n

The plan would then have cost a total of N$10 billion.<\/p>\n

Shiimi was responding to the budget contributions and concerns raised by members of Parliament this week.<\/p>\n

He said the government fully recognises the dream of the late President for a significant increase in old age pension, however, government cannot afford to deliver this dream in one financial year.<\/p>\n

Shiimi reassured Namibians that the state will continue to work towards the dream with gradual increases over time as resources permit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this increase was to be effected it could have cost the government an additional N$5.2 billion to the current N$4.8 billion to total N$10.1 billion per year.<\/p>\n

This is equivalent to the allocation made to the Ministry of Health and Social Service in the 2024\/25 financial year and about 60 percent of the allocation to the Ministry of Basic Education and Culture in the same period,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Further stating that the deficit would have gone past the N$8.9 billion estimates, this increase could have raised the deficit to N$14.2 billion, which is equivalent to 5.1 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).<\/p>\n

The social grant was increased from N$1 400 to N$1 600 when he tabled the 2024\/25 national budget in Parliament last month.<\/p>\n

The increase was received with mixed feelings as some pensioners said it was not enough, while certain sectors were very appreciative of the increase.<\/p>\n

Shiimi also put to rest the concerns surrounding government debt, which some MPs questioned the allocation to the development budget in relation to total allocation and debt services.<\/p>\n

Shiimi acknowledged the need to increase the development budget and its role in economic development.<\/p>\n

Adding that this is the reason why the government has increased the development budget by some 58.1 percent to N$12.7 billion.<\/p>\n

The idea is to continue with a gradual increase until they reach a desired level based on fund availability and the capacity of Offices, Ministries and Agencies (OMAs) to execute.<\/p>\n

The MPs further suggested that the windfall of revenue as a result of economic performance and South African Customs Union (SACU) revenue should have been used in times of calamity, like drought or the next pandemic.<\/p>\n

In response to this, shiimi indicated in his budget speech that a significant portion of the government debt portfolio is due for repayment over the Mid-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) including the US$750 million or some N$14.3 billion Eurobond which is due in 2025.<\/p>\n

In this regard, the ministry will direct part of the increase in revenues towards the sinking fund for debt redemption purposes.<\/p>\n

Shiimi believes that this is in line with the suggested approach by the MPs. In addition to this, the treasury has targeted about N$700 million for drought relief, amidst the looming severe drought this year, which he believes is a calamity like any other.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. Finance and Public Enterprise Minister, Iipumbu Shiimi, says if the government was to honour the wish of late President Hage Geingob to increase old age pension to N$3,000, then an additional N$5.2 billion would have had to be availed compared to the current allocated N$4.8 billion for the 2024\/25 financial year The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":65652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,7],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-65653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-head-lines","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nIncrease in pensions would have cost taxpayers an extra N$5.2 billion - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Finance and Public Enterprise Minister, Iipumbu Shiimi, says if the government was to honour the wish of late President ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/increase-in-pensions-would-have-cost-taxpayers-an-extra-n5-2-billion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Increase in pensions would have cost taxpayers an extra N$5.2 billion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Finance and Public Enterprise Minister, Iipumbu Shiimi, says if the government was to honour the wish of late President ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/increase-in-pensions-would-have-cost-taxpayers-an-extra-n5-2-billion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-29T18:44:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-29T19:59:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2024\/03\/sm_1711729590.189859.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"778\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"323\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/increase-in-pensions-would-have-cost-taxpayers-an-extra-n5-2-billion#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/increase-in-pensions-would-have-cost-taxpayers-an-extra-n5-2-billion\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Increase in pensions would have cost taxpayers an extra N$5.2 billion\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-29T18:44:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-29T19:59:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/increase-in-pensions-would-have-cost-taxpayers-an-extra-n5-2-billion\"},\"wordCount\":533,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/increase-in-pensions-would-have-cost-taxpayers-an-extra-n5-2-billion#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2024\/03\/sm_1711729590.189859.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"head lines\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/increase-in-pensions-would-have-cost-taxpayers-an-extra-n5-2-billion#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/increase-in-pensions-would-have-cost-taxpayers-an-extra-n5-2-billion\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/increase-in-pensions-would-have-cost-taxpayers-an-extra-n5-2-billion\",\"name\":\"Increase in pensions would have cost taxpayers an extra N$5.2 billion - 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