Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s latest attempt to deflect responsibility and mislead the public comes in the form of posting an article on global pension-fund diversification. This is yet another distraction tactic designed to confuse the conversation and avoid accountability.
The article he referenced — “The great diversification: Why pension funds are moving beyond stocks and bonds” — details the strategies of large, well-capitalized pension systems in North America and Europe. These funds operate with high liquidity, strong funding ratios, and regulatory safeguards. Antigua and Barbuda’s Social Security Scheme is in no such position.
🔷 Our Social Security Fund is underfunded and facing severe liquidity constraints.🔷 The real issue is not diversification, but restoring solvency and ensuring that pensioners are paid in full and on time.🔷 The Government’s proposal is not about innovation or financial strategy; rather, it is a gamble on a risky, tourism-dependent real-estate venture.
Let us be clear: This is not a regulated, diversified private-equity investment. This is a high-risk, single-asset bet on Jolly Beach, with no safeguards and no guaranteed return, because the tourism sector is known to be volatile and vulnerable to natural disasters and economic shocks.
Furthermore, the so-called “non-performing” bond disparaged by the Prime Minister should be yielding 6% interest to the Social Security Fund. It is non-performing only because the Government has failed to honour its payment obligations. That is not a market failure. It is a leadership failure.
First, PM Browne issued a challenge to debate me, Harold Lovell, on his claim of Jolly Beach being a viable investment for Social Security. Now, he has posted a nebulous article on his Facebook page to “inform” and “enlighten” the United Progressive Party (UPP).
Posting articles like this does nothing to educate the public about sound financial planning or to build financial literacy. This is fluff: distraction dressed up as policy. What this country needs is transparency, accountability, and real reforms to protect the retirement security of hard-working citizens and residents. He claims that swapping non-performing government bonds for the 27-acre, 315-room Jolly Beach Hotel, valued at US$25 million, will yield superior returns. He further suggests that selling rooms under the CIP could bring in US$70 million and that the hotel is currently turning a profit of US$1.5 million annually.
As a former Finance Minister, I am dismissing the theory as simplistic and fictional. Why not provide audited statements to demonstrate the true financial performance of Jolly Beach? I am challenging Gaston Browne to open the books and present a viable financial plan, rather than playing Warri with the people’s money.
It is time to stop the smoke and mirrors. Our pensioners and workers deserve more than political spin; they deserve a system that puts their security first.