Martin Endjala
The Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) today announced a 4.62 percent increase for its pensioners effective from 1 April 2022.
This was said in a statement by the Marketing and Stakeholders Engagement Officer of GIPF.
The increment was necessitated by the volatile economic situation, fuel and commodity price increments in the country.
The 4.62 percent hike for this year, shows a slide improved of just above one percent compared to last three percent.
“A pension increase serves to cushion pensioners from unexpected change in their purchasing power hence, the incessant ability to increase members’ benefits annually”, the media statement reads.
The increase shows the fund’s collective commitment to guard and grow its members’ financial security.
The GIPF CEO David Nuyoma emphasized that they had to strike a delicate balance in consideration of the volatile investment returns due to the prevailing covid-19 pandemic and the geo-political circumstances in Europe.
“The is a need to manage expectations regarding pension increase and to ensure that their pensioners live responsibly within the parameters of the inflation”, he lamented.
Nuyoma expressed his satisfaction over the fund’s ability to have been able to increase the pension payments despite the unprecedented economic calamities.
“Despite what is termed to be difficult times, it is still able to provide pension increases above inflation”, he said adamantly.
Historically, the pension increase granted to pensioners of the fund who have been members for five years.
In 2017 GIPF adjusted pension by seven percent, 2018 by 5.5 percent and 2019 by five percent.
However, in 2020 that was characterised by the Covid-19 outbreak only 5.5 percent increase was granted, and another three percent in 2021.
