{"id":24061,"date":"2022-08-12T15:40:35","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T15:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/senators-seek-increased-pension-benefits-amid-rising-cost-of-living"},"modified":"2022-08-12T16:04:07","modified_gmt":"2022-08-12T16:04:07","slug":"senators-seek-increased-pension-benefits-amid-rising-cost-of-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/senators-seek-increased-pension-benefits-amid-rising-cost-of-living","title":{"rendered":"Senators seek increased pension benefits amid rising cost of living"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Over 50 per cent of pensioners get less than Rwf30,000 monthly benefits, which is lower than the least required amount for a retiree to meet their basic needs.<\/p>\n

Doroth\u00e9e Uwimana, President of Pensioners\u2019 Association, said while speaking to The New Times on Thursday, August 11 about pensioners\u2019 living conditions and the need to increase their monthly benefits to be able to afford the basic standard of living.<\/p>\n

For many pensioners receiving less than Rwf30,000, affording basic needs is a challenge given the current period where prices have gone up drastically, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe study we carried out in 2017 suggested that the minimum pension benefits should be Rwf37,000 for a retiree in rural areas, and Rwf80,000 in urban areas,\u201d she said, explaining that it was based on the differences in living conditions in rural and urban areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be better if pension is adjusted with the increase in the cost of living in order to support retirees\u2019 purchasing power, if possible,\u201d Uwimana said.<\/p>\n

During the Senate\u2019s Plenary Sitting on Wednesday, August 10, that approved Regis Rugemanshuro, and Louise Kanyonga, respectively as the CEO and Deputy CEO of the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB), some senators advocated for pension increase in response to the rising cost of living.<\/p>\n

Senator Emmanuel Havugimana said that some retirees are not happy because of the small pension they get, calling for ways to ensure for this to change by availing benefits that match the current cost of living.<\/p>\n

Senator Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu observed that the declining value of the Rwandan franc is also one of the factors that weaken the retirees\u2019 purchasing power.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they continue to get such little money that is not corresponding to the prices at the market, I think that the fundamental principles [that the Senate has to ensure are applied] would be somehow disregarded,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose people worked for the country for many years, so they should not be living miserably during retirement,\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Senator Adrie Umuhire, Chairperson of the Committee on Social Affairs and Human Rights said that RSSB acknowledged the pension issue affecting retirees.<\/p>\n

She added that the institution told the committee it conducted a study that was considering how pension can be increased without destabilising the fund.<\/p>\n

The 2015 law governing the organisation of pension schemes in Rwanda provides that a public entity in charge of the pension scheme shall carry out an actuarial study for the pension scheme at least once every five years.<\/p>\n

Where the actuarial study shows a possible negative impact on the economy, the amount of contributions shall be increased based on the legal provisions.<\/p>\n

Based on the findings of the actuarial study, pension benefits may also be increased, the law stipulates.<\/p>\n

The latest pension increase was made in 2018. Among others, it more than doubled the minimum pension to Rw13,000 (from Rwf5,200).<\/p>\n

Speaking to The New Times, Louise Kanyonga, Deputy CEO of RSSB said that the Rwf13,000 was established as a minimum pension in order to improve the situation, \u201cbecause before there were people who were even getting lower than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInflation is a challenge at the moment. At RSSB, we are always looking at how we continuously improve our members\u2019 welfare and secure their future, we are balancing that with ensuring that the scheme is sustainable as well,\u201d she observed.<\/p>\n

Public pension scheme at a glance<\/b><\/p>\n

According to the monetary policy and financial stability statement that was published by the National Bank of Rwanda on March 2022, assets of the pension fund under RSSB management grew Rwf227.7 billion or 23 per cent, from Rwf985.6 billion in December 2020 to Rwf1,213 billion in December 2021.<\/p>\n

Contributions increased by 17 per cent during the period under review from Rwf50.7 billion to Rwf59.7 billion.<\/p>\n

Benefits paid also continued to increase but at a slower rate than contributions, the report indicated.<\/p>\n

During the period under review, pension fund benefit payments increased by 13 per cent to Rwf17.3 billion in 2021, reflecting the increased number of beneficiaries. Pensioners (retirees) represented 77 per cent of total benefit payments in December 2021.<\/p>\n

The number of contributors to public pension was over 587,400 as of December 2021, while the number of its beneficiaries was over 45,500 in the same period.<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Rwanda. Over 50 per cent of pensioners get less than Rwf30,000 monthly benefits, which is lower than the least required amount for a retiree to meet their basic needs. Doroth\u00e9e Uwimana, President of Pensioners\u2019 Association, said while speaking to The New Times on Thursday, August 11 about pensioners\u2019 living conditions and the need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":24060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,15,29,28],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-24061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nSenators seek increased pension benefits amid rising cost of living - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over 50 per cent of pensioners get less than Rwf30,000 monthly benefits, which is lower than the least required amount f ...\" \/>\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\/rwanda\/economy\/senators-seek-increased-pension-benefits-amid-rising-cost-of-living\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senators seek increased pension benefits amid rising cost of living\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over 50 per cent of pensioners get less than Rwf30,000 monthly benefits, which is lower than the least required amount f ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/senators-seek-increased-pension-benefits-amid-rising-cost-of-living\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-12T15:40:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-12T16:04:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_22-62f679d624d84.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1556\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1037\" \/>\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=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/senators-seek-increased-pension-benefits-amid-rising-cost-of-living#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/senators-seek-increased-pension-benefits-amid-rising-cost-of-living\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Senators seek increased pension benefits amid rising cost of living\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-12T15:40:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-12T16:04:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/senators-seek-increased-pension-benefits-amid-rising-cost-of-living\"},\"wordCount\":712,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/senators-seek-increased-pension-benefits-amid-rising-cost-of-living#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_22-62f679d624d84.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Economy\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/senators-seek-increased-pension-benefits-amid-rising-cost-of-living#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/senators-seek-increased-pension-benefits-amid-rising-cost-of-living\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/senators-seek-increased-pension-benefits-amid-rising-cost-of-living\",\"name\":\"Senators seek increased pension benefits amid rising cost of living - 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