UAE's General Pension and Social Security Authority approves draft annual budget for 2023

October statistics show a 13% increase in the number of employers registered with the authority in the same month last year

The authority is preparing to submit the draft budget to the Cabinet for approval. Bloomberg

The UAE's General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) said on Thursday it has approved the draft annual budget for 2023 during its sixth board meeting.

The authority is preparing to submit the draft budget to the Cabinet for approval, it said in a statement.

“The board reviewed and approved the financial statements for the second quarter of 2022, discussed GPSSA’s draft annual budget for 2023 and approved it in preparation for submitting it to the Cabinet for approval,” the authority said.

The UAE’s retirement income system improved in the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index, which ranked it 25th among 44 countries with long-standing pension systems such as the US, Singapore and France.

The overall ranking reflects the “sound structure” the country has put in place for a funded pension system for Emiratis, with both the public and private sectors setting aside mandatory contributions during an employee’s tenure, said the survey, which included the UAE for a second consecutive year.

Within the UAE, the pensions of Emiratis are administered by different agencies such as the Abu Dhabi Pension Fund, the Sharjah Social Security Fund and the General Pensions and Social Security Authority (GPSSA).

While Abu Dhabi has its own pension programme, the GPSSA is the federal body that administers pensions for the rest of the Emirates.

Emiratis working in government and the private sector are eligible for pensions and other retirement benefits after reaching the retirement age of 49 or after having served a minimum of 20 years, according to the UAE government.

The GPSSA’s October statistics indicate an increase in the number of employers registered with the authority to 8,080 compared to 7,149 employers in the same month last year. The number of contributors also rose to 89,496 in October, compared to 86,799 in the prior-year period.

The number of pensioners affiliated with the authority increased to 18,888 compared with 17,236 in October 2021, while the number of beneficiaries rose to 8,489, compared to 8,081 during the period.

Insurance expenditures for insured individuals, pensioners and beneficiaries with the GPSSA amounted to Dh389.3 million in October compared to Dh390.5m in October 2021.

The UAE this week said federal government and private sector employees must subscribe to its new social security support programme from January 1, 2023.

Investors, such as owners of the establishments in which they work, domestic helpers, part-time employees, workers under the age of 18, and retirees who receive a pension and have joined a new job, will not be covered by the insurance programme.

National Bonds, the Sharia-compliant savings and investment company owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai, unveiled a Golden Pension programme in October to help private sector foreign employees invest their end-of-service benefits.

The pension plan is expected to help employees in the UAE bridge their retirement savings gap as well as support employers to fund their end-of-service financial commitments.