_{Photo: Deborah Ruiz, CEO of Social Security Board}

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Fri. Apr. 19, 2024

On Friday, April 19, the Belize Social Board (SSB) presented to the media an update on its Investment Portfolio for the last quarter as well as on the services and benefits that the SSB currently offers.

A key highlight of the SSB’s presentation was the value of a pension and how investments play a role in meeting the shortfall in funds that are available for the disbursement of those pensions annually. It was noted that the SSB invested an estimated $507.2 Million in 2023 in comparison to $456 Million in 2022, thus showing a significant increase in their investments.

“There is money to be invested; we want to take that 500 Million to 550. We would like to put another 50 million dollars in the system to get to six hundred million in two years, and hitting the thirty million dollars in terms of returns. Again, when we talked about the value of a pension, the short for after two years, really what is going to help [the] fund, it is the investment returns. So, the 600 million plus needs to happen. [It] is imperative that we do so; a little under 30 million this year,” said Leo Vasquez, Financial General Manager of the Social Security Board.

The SSB also noted that it has digitized the process for obtaining Social Security cards and submitting loan applications, as well as for claiming benefits and submitting employer payments.

“All of this focuses on how we improve our service standards for service delivery to you. Everybody is on the go. Everybody wants everything faster, but we must also make sure that we are paying the right benefit to the right person at the right rate,” continued Vasquez.

Since implementing the customer support system in 2021, Social Security’s online channels have dealt with a total of 103,299 interactions from customers.

When meeting with the media after the presentation, the CEO of the Social Security Board, Deborah Ruiz, noted that this is a new strategy of being transparent with the public.

“This is a new strategy of ours to deal with our objective of being transparent and, of course, to share the information with the media. I know, normally, customers who have complaints … the media is usually the first person they go to; so that you have the right information in terms of how your Social Security operates; so that you can assist us in your decisions regarding your newscast, and, or whatever medium they use, to give the right information or give the persons … and we have shared with you our service channels to refer them to, the channels that they can get the correct information to get them at us,” she said.

CEO Ruiz further mentioned, “Social insurance is a vital pillar of the whole social protection system. As you know, we have been working this past year on a national social protection strategy. It is key that people appreciate the value that social insurance can bring to them, and for them to understand that the contribution that they make, that the Social Security Board is investing to minimize the need to go back to them for any contribution increase and still being able to pay a benefit that can satisfy the income replacement needs in the future when they need it.”

In the upcoming month, the Social Security Board will launch a feature which will enable employees to view their contributions online.