Universal Pension: Premium to be invested in T-bills, bonds

The National Pension Authority (NPA) is planning to invest the premium of the subscribers of the Universal Pension Scheme in treasury bills, financially sound commercial banks and lucrative infrastructure.

Rules for fund management would be issued after the inauguration of the much talked about scheme, The Daily Star has learnt from finance ministry officials informed with the proceedings.

The NPA is considering the treasury bill and bonds where the interest rate is about 8-8.5 percent.

Since the central bank has withdrawn the cap on all loans, investing in well-reputed banks' fixed deposits will yield good returns.

Besides, the authority is eyeing profitable projects as a good source of return on investment too, they said.

The scheme will be inaugurated virtually by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today.

Initially, it will be rolled out in Gopalganj, Bagerhat, and Rangpur. Expatriate Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia would also be able to register for the scheme today.

The scheme will have four packages: Progoti, Shurukka, Probesh and Samata.

Progoti is for private sector employees. The instalment options under Progoti are Tk 2,000, Tk 3,000 and Tk 5,000, as per the gazette notification issued earlier this week.

Private sector employers will have to contribute 50 percent of their employees' monthly instalments.

The NPA is considering making enrolment in Progoti compulsory for private sector employers by amending labour laws.

The Samata package is designed for the ultra-poor, with the monthly instalment being Tk 1,000. The government will pay Tk 500 and the other Tk 500 will be paid by the beneficiary.

The Probash scheme is for expatriate Bangladeshis, with the monthly instalment options being Tk 5,000, Tk 7,500 and Tk 10,000. They will have to furnish the instalment in foreign currency.

Upon their return home, they can continue the scheme by paying in taka or switch to another package. But they will get their pension in taka.

The universal pension scheme is available to those between the ages of 18 and 50 years; they will have to pay the instalment up to the age of 60.

However, those over 50 years of age will be able to participate in the scheme under special consideration. Such beneficiaries will have to pay monthly instalments for at least 10 years.

After that, they will start to get a pension every month.