Number of contributors low: Tarutia

Business

NASFUND chief executive officer Ian Tarutia, pictured, says not all workers are covered by superannuation.
Tarutia said PNG had the lowest coverage of (superannuation contributors to population size) of less than 10 per cent while Fiji had the highest with around 60 per cent.
“This is placing additional pressure on families to support older persons and the unemployed when times are hard,” he said.
“For the Fund, the challenge is to be sustainable, especially where pensions are provided or as in PNG’s case, early access to retirement funds are allowed by law before retirement.
“We must be cognizant of our primary role as a savings scheme for retirement, after active working life.
“We are not a bank. However under the current law, this is how we are operating at the moment.
“We are a superannuation fund providing banking services. Secondly, we need to expand the coverage of superannuation to a greater segment of our working population so it eases the burden of the small minority struggling to cover the majority of our people. Our laws need to be reviewed.”