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NMIRF eyes record $56-M budget for FY 2001
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Posted on Feb 16 2000
The Northern Marianas Retirement Fund board is reviewing a proposed budget of $56 million for its operations in Fiscal Year 2001, the biggest spending plan in the agency’s history.
According to NMIRF Board Chair Vicente Camacho, the biggest chunk of the budget, or 87.8 percent, will be used to pay monthly pension of its members.
Some $2.1 million has been set aside for the construction of Retirement Fund buildings in Rota and Tinian but implementation of such plan depends on the settlement of the CNMI government’s unpaid contribution now amounting to $30 million.
The board has already informed the Fund’ s money managers about plans to invest more money in Asia with the recovery of the region from the crisis. “But then again, this will depend on when we will get the money from the government,” Mr. Camacho said.
The board chairman has expressed satisfaction on last year’s performance of the Fund’s off-island portfolio which earned $57.4 million in the last quarter of 1999.
The amount brought to $390.55 million the total assets of the Fund managed by its nine money managers. Based on the Fund’s investment report for the month of December alone, the off-island portfolio reported a gain of $28.89 million.
Breakdown of the Fund’s assets is as follows: 72.5 percent in equities, 22 percent in fixed income and 5.30 percent in cash and cash equivalents.
Although its overseas investments have shown significant increase in earnings, NMI Retirement Fund Administrator Juan S. Torres has expressed concern on the cash flow situation of the agency which he said might hamper operations.
The Fund needs $3.2 million every month to manage the contributions of the 5,000-strong government workforce. Of this, some $2.7 million goes to pensions of government employees while the rest are spent on salaries and administrative expenses. The Fund’s total revenue covering the contribution of members and employers amounts to $1.44 million every month.
