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That's a worrying state of affairs, but the PUP in their release, interpreted that to mean that SSB is "broke". CEO Colin Young told us last night that SSB would respond to the Opposition's release, and they did so this morning in an impromptu press conference held at their Belize City Branch. The Chairman of the SSB Board of Directors Doug Sing stressed that the SSB isn't broke, and that in the last 10 years, this administration has managed to grow the fund by over 180 million dollars. Here are his comments in response to the PUP release:

Doug Singh - Board Chairman, SSB
"I need to make it clear that the Social Security is not broke. In fact, it continues to be the greatest - the largest fund in Belize. The Fund has been consistently growing under the UDP Government from 272 million dollars in 2008, to 459 million dollars in 2018, which is a 69% growth in 10 years. And this is all due to the prudent management of the investment committee and the Board of Directors. As you may be aware, the Board cannot make investment decisions unilaterally. It has to be recommended by an investment committee with its own chairman, and its own board, before the board can even entertain investments. So, the investments have been prudently done, reviewed, managed and implemented, so much so, that today, the investment portfolio at the Social Security is 99.4% or so [that is] performing. That is unprecedented. Less than 1% of the Fund is not performing in this point in time."

"This growth is in spite of the hits that have been taken at Social Security on programs and projects such as the mortgage securitization, the Galleria Maya, the Intelco etc. So, despite these hits that have been taken on the book at SSB, most of which was taken during that period, there has still been this level of growth. And I need to point out that those hits were not under a UDP Administration. It was under the PUP's administration."

"The reason that the Social Security is now requesting adjustments in social security contribution is simply because while the fund continued to grow, so does benefit payments, in particular, in pensions. There are more and more people retiring because the fund is now getting to a mature level."

You'll also remember that a significant portion of the PUP's press release focussed on a Cabinet paper penned by the SSB CEO, Dr. Colin Young. It's entitled "How the UDP can Leverage SSB's Sustainability to gain Political Advantage." And though PUP refers to it in their press release, they only quote selectively from the memo to give the impression that CEO Young is strictly playing politics with the SSB's state of affairs.

We've since had an opportunity to read the entire document, and it appears that the CEO used facts and evidence to try and convince the Barrow Government to make a difficult decision, to increase contributions with elections upcoming in 2020. Indeed, he addresses the potential negative consequences that the Government could face if that happens. But, he also demonstrates how the Government can swing the uncomfortable conversation to their benefit by pointing out that this is a difficult decision that needs to be taken.

The CEO may have simply tailored his presentation to suit his audience, and in this case, his audience was elected politicians who want to be re-elected, and who often consider voter popularity as their highest priority

But the PUP's spin on this presentation is that, quote, "CEO Young explained how the UDP can spin the near bankruptcy of the SSB to gain mileage whenever elections are called. Young actually goes so far as to provide detailed steps on how the UDP can fool the Belizean people into thinking that the move to increase contributions is a good thing, compared to the fallout if the entity should collapse. Young is convinced that with sufficient spin, the Barrow administration can turn the Social Security debacle into a 'win for the UDP." End quote.

Today, the SSB Board Chairman told us that this was not the intended effect, and that the Opposition is playing politics. Here's how he explained how difficult it was for them to convince the Government to approve this increase in contributions:

Doug Singh - Board Chairman, SSB
"This wasn't easy, and the CEO can attest to that. In our initial meeting with the Government of Belize, we got clear indication that they were not prepared to make an adjustment. That's within their purview. Ultimately, they're the ones who have to sign the statutory instrument, to create it into law. And Governments are never willing to make these kinds of adjustments that results in increased contributions by employers and employees. So, that was a natural reaction. The Board though, tasked Management, through the CEO as the leader, to ensure that he has exhausted all that he possibly could to ensure that we do the right thing, that we protect the Social Security Fund, that we get the kind of adjustment that is necessary to ensure that pensioners can get the monies they need to retire when that retirement day comes. As I said, the Fund is not broke, but if we don't make the adjustment, the fund can start to be compromised. The CEO in his wisdom, and with the support of the Board, wrote to the Prime Minister, recognizing the challenge that the Government has because while it is the responsible thing to do to make the adjustments, it is also a political decision. [He] tried to make the point to the Government that it is prudent for you to do this, notwithstanding the fact that there can be political outfall for it. So, contrary to the statement made in the PUP Press release, that in fact, that you're showing where they're political advantages that can be reached from this. There is no advantage. Really, what the CEO pointed out is that you can mitigate the political fallout damage as a result of making these kinds of decisions. And he clearly pointed it out to the Government in an effort to convince the Government to do the right thing."

"We also offered advice to the People's United Party. Just about a year ago, we met the executive of the People's United Party, including the party leader, the Hon. John Briceno, at their office at Charter House on the Philip Goldson Highway. And we did the same presentation to advise them of the level of where SSB was, of the investments, of the future risk that existed, and the need for the adjustment. I pointed out to the team that if in fact, the Government makes the decision not to implement this, because there's a huge outcry against this, and that the Opposition is making a lot of noise, that it compounds the problem, because in elections of 2020, at the time of elections of 2020, the situation would have been worsened. And the bitter pill would have be a larger bitter pill. And if the PUP is successful at taking Government at that time, it will be their responsibility to make these kind of adjustments."

"If they were wise - and this is what I said to them - you would not make too much noise about this because this could end up being your harness, your yoke to bear. Now, maybe because of where it was coming from, they chose not to take the advice, and it is unfortunate because I also said to them that of all the parties that have something to lose in making this kinda noise, it is the People's United Party because all the loses that were made as a result of bad investment happened under their administration. So, they do not have the moral conviction to be making these kinds of statements."