Nasfund pays K171m to members

By DALE LUMA
THE National Superannuation Fund paid K171 million to its members at the end of April, and expects the trend of high withdrawals to continue until the end of the year, says chief executive officer Ian Tarutia.
Tarutia told The National that the payout was against a budget of K166 million.
He said employers also continued to remit monthly contributions but they were decreasing in value.
“We paid K171 million to members against a budget of K166 million,” he said.
“We anticipate this trend of high withdrawal transactions will continue until end of this year.
“At end of April, we received K187 million against a budget of K200 million.
“Currently, the payout of super entitlements is slightly over budget as members who have reached retirement are leaving employment and cashing out.
“Our challenge is to ensure monthly employer receipts continue to exceed monthly payouts.”
On what the Government should do to decrease its bond prices, Tarutia said: “We have
been investing in long-dated Government bonds that pay good interest.
“If bond prices decrease, we will need to look other alternatives to earn similar returns to ensure our members superannuation savings continue to benefit from positive net growth after inflation.
“Otherwise we need to be stimulating our economy, creating jobs, getting people employed, paying taxes, encouraging investment and growth opportunities.”
Tarutia advised nasfund members who have not been receiving any pay increase “to budget, live within your means”.