After promising a $3,000 pension for persons insured under the National Insurance System (NIS) in delivering the national budget in October 2010, Finance Minister Winston Dookeran yesterday brought the Finance Bill to Parliament to effect such increases.

Dookeran had said NIS pensions will be increased from $2,000 to bring equity to the pension system.

Yesterday, speaking on the "compassionate" initiatives of Government, Dookeran pointed out while other countries were giving "haircuts" and cutting back on pensions, this Government was doing the opposite.

However, he noted the National Insurance System is not fully funded and depends on the investment of income from timely contributions paid by employers to keep the system financially sound and provide relevant benefits, without introducing high contribution rates.

He said there were some 2,000 employers who have not paid their NIS contributions over the past four years.

Dookeran said the National Insurance Board (NIB) reported as of June 30, 2011, some 2,000 employers had not paid their contributions.

He said to encourage compliance by employers who had not paid contributions, the Government announced its intention to waive the penalties and interest accruing on National Insurance contributions prior to October 10, 2011.

The waiver will apply to contributions due for periods prior to September 5, 2011 and were not paid by September 16, 2011.