RBZ asked to allow once off payment to pensioners

Published: 12 July 2017

The government through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare has appealed to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to allow banks to give pensioners once off payment for their monthly dues to minimise unnecessary expenses and travelling costs.travelling costs.

The appeal comes in the backdrop of a recent minimum pension hike by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare from $60 to $80 per month.

For many years, pensioners have had to endure the agony of standing in long queues come every mid month to get access to their monthly pensions.mid month to get access to their monthly pensions.

With current cash shortages, pensioners' lives have become even more miserable as they have to further strain their frail bodies waiting to access their dues.

With the effecting of the new increase of their pensions, Minister Priscah Mupfumira has come up with some innovations to ease their plight through engaging the central bank to direct the banks to pay the pensioner at one go and also find ways of facilitating mobile transactions.

Minister Mupfumira revealed that the increase to $80 is with effect from the 1st of October 2017 and is in accordance with the provisions of the National Social Security Act chapter 17.

The Minister also revealed that the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) has embarked on an extensive biometric registration exercise across the country to ensure that beneficiaries are registered so as to tighten security for the beneficiaries and the issuing authority.

The pension payments will be paid to members who are registered and verified through the biometric exercise by the 30th of September this year.

The ministry is also in the process of aligning the NSSA pensionable age from 60 to 65 and to increase the minimum pension to $100.

- zbc