Government to raise minimum pension

The government of Antigua and Barbuda has chosen to elevate the minimum occupational pension for former government employees to $1,000.00 per month.

According to the recent Cabinet notes, a “tiered increases to higher earning pensioners will be calculated and paid on a declining percentage.”

Cabinet Spokesperson Lionel Hurst told the media on Thursday that the current minimum is about $850.

Hurst acknowledged that this raise was still inadequate, necessitating further augmentation to prevent elderly citizens from slipping into poverty.

Although a specific date for the increase was not provided.

Meanwhile, Hurst mentioned that clearing the outstanding backpay for public sector workers could be a gradual process.

He elaborated that due to the challenges posed by COVID-19, the government temporarily halted payments to over 50 landlords of government-occupied buildings. “It is only fair that we make some payments to those landlords, and as a consequence, I can’t provide an exact timeline for when everyone in the public sector will receive all the monies owed,” he explained.