We can’t force loans from Social Security Board — Premier

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has made it clear that the government cannot force the state-owned Social Security Board (SSB) to lend money to fund public projects despite suggestions from members of the parliamentary Opposition.

Since the news that the government plans to acquire a 100 million-dollar loan, Opposition legislators have been pressing the government to consider alternative funding methods, including tapping into the SSB’s financial reserves. They argued that the government should explore every possible option to meet the needs of the people. However, Premier Wheatley maintained that any decisions regarding loans from the SSB were entirely out of his hands.

Some Opposition members suggested this could offer a financial solution to the government’s ongoing infrastructure challenges. However, Premier Wheatley rejected this notion, stating that the government had already explored local financial avenues and concluded that the domestic banks provided the best terms for the country.
“The process gave us the best possible terms that we could have domestically,” Wheatley explained while noting that Social Security was invited to submit a proposal during the bidding process but chose not to.

Premier Wheatley emphasised that the Social Security Board operates independently and cannot be compelled to participate in government borrowing. “We are not in a position to force the Social Security Board to participate,” Wheatley told the House of Assembly last week. He added that while the government supports local financial institutions, the SSB is governed by its own board, which decides how it manages its resources.

Wheatley further highlighted the importance of maintaining strong partnerships with local banks to support the economy and ensure sustainable financing options moving forward, stating, “We don’t want this to establish a negative relationship with our local banks.”

Premier Wheatley also praised public officers for their role in negotiations. “I’ve been informed by the Ministry of Finance team who, might I add, did a great job in negotiating. I heard criticism on the other side and [they] made it seem as though I’m going and I’m personally negotiating with banks. That’s something that you have your technical officers, technocrats do on behalf of yourself and the government,” he stated.

“Let me say I believe they did a good job. The best job they could do given the circumstances as it was. I want to commend them for that. That yielded the particular interest rate that we have,” he said.

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