Bahamas, March 30, 2017 – Nassau – Jobless claims are up and new contributor sign up are down says the National Insurance Board. In a presentation to the Chartered Financial Analyists of The Bahamas forum, VP of the NIB, Pheadra Mackey-Knowles said they have seen more Bahamians qualify for jobless benefits, with less new people coming into the workforce. “Those few indicators give me a read on how the economy is. Most recently, we transitioned to a new IT platform. There was a delay in some of the benefit payments, and the outcry it caused was indicative of how the economy is doing. I have had persons come up to me and tell me that that was their only source of revenue, and if we miss one payment it affects them tremendously. That tells me that our economy is really, really bad.”
It was also shared that the cut in interest rate by the Central Bank will have an adverse effect on the investment portfolio of the NIB, explained Mackey-Knowles. “About 65 per cent of my portfolio is currently invested in government debt,” she said. “Whenever there is a reduction in interest rates it affects my portfolio and your future benefits because we are tied to Prime.”
Photo credit: Nassau Gaurdian
#MagneticMediaNews
#BahamasNIB
#joblessclaimsup
#workforcegrowthdown
