Guyana’s political opposition mulls privatizing ailing Insurance Scheme

Georgetown: A Partnership for National Unity which is a consortium of political opposition parties contesting Monday’s Regional and General Election says that given the financial predicament of Guyana’s National Insurance Scheme along with its gloomy projections it is mulling upon its ascension to Office effecting its privatization.

APNU is proposing alternatively to enter into some form of Public/Private Sector Partnership in an effort to salvage the institution.

APNU warns that since no major remedial action has been taken recently in relation to the NIS Scheme it continues to plunge into disaster.

As it relates to the NIS’s current financial position APNU pointed out that the scheme generates an Annual Income of just under $11.5B and of that some about G$10B is garnered from Contributions to the scheme.

The main expenditures of the NIS are for the payment of Benefits, $9.3B, and Administrative Expenses $1.4B, making a total of $10.7B.

APNU contends then that NIS is, “therefore, living on the edge with a current surplus of about G$0.7B from which it has to finance its Capital Expenditures.”

APNU says too that NIS is projected to go into an overall deficit by the end of 2011 and, on the basis of the present financial pattern, there is every indication that, five years from now the NIS will be in both a current and overall deficit of about G$1B.