For several years now, Aruba’s social funds, SVB and AZV, have shown very positive financial results, resulting in structural surpluses. It was the vision of the MEP party that these extra funds should remain within SVB and AZV, with a view to ensuring the long-term sustainability of these funds. The financial supervisor CAFT is of the opinion that these extra funds should be transferred to the Government in order to reduce Aruba’s public debt more quickly. However, in the view of the MEP government, the surplus funds should remain with SVB and AZV to prevent the need to raise the retirement age or reduce the AZV coverage package in the future.
The AVP and FUTURO government holds a different view, and this may have consequences for the surpluses of these social funds. This concerns the announcement by Minister Eman that the AOV pension will be increased and that the AZV premium for senior citizens will be reduced. Both decisions could have a significant financial impact and would affect the surpluses of the social funds.
In addition, Minister Wever explained to the Raad van Advies (Council of Advice) that the Government intends to use the surpluses of these social funds to help reduce Aruba’s national debt, in line with CAFT’s recommendation. This is also a decision that directly affects the finances of SVB and AZV. For this reason, Member of Parliament Xiomara Maduro submitted questions to Minister of Finance Wever to obtain more clarity regarding the destination of the surpluses of the social funds SVB and AZV.
According to Minister Wever, in the year 2025 the surpluses of the social funds will not yet be used to help reduce Aruba’s debt through “treasury banking” (schatkistbankieren). However, regarding Minister Eman’s decision to increase the SVB pension and to eliminate the AZV premium for pensioners, Minister Wever did not explain how these measures will be financed. Instead, he referred the matter to Minister Eman for clarification, which is rather unusual, as the Minister of Finance should be able to provide such explanations.
Nevertheless, it remains important for the public to understand how Minister Eman’s decisions will affect the development and sustainability of the social funds, since it must be ensured that there will be no need in the future to raise the retirement age or reduce the AZV coverage package.
Press Release – Member of Parliament Xiomara Maduro