Small-Ferguson urges Gov’t to pursue indexation reform to protect purchasing power of pensioners

KINGSTON, Jamaica—Opposition Senator Ramon Small-Ferguson is urging the Government to pursue “properly designed indexation reform” to protect the purchasing power of pensioners over time. Small-Ferguson said that in doing so, careful attention should be paid to sustainability, and without presuming any particular formula or guaranteed increase. He made the comments in the Senate on Friday while contributing to the debate on the Pensions (Superannuation Funds and Retirement Schemes) (Investment) (Amendment) Regulations, 2026.

He said it was time to move from investment diversification to pension inclusion. Small-Ferguson, who is also chief executive officer at Barita Investments Limited, noted that the issue of indexation was particularly relevant at this time. He pointed to the latest update last week from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica which reported annual inflation of 8.6 per cent in September 2026.

He cited that this was up from 7.9 per cent in August, and above the Bank of Jamaica’s target range of 4 to 6 per cent. “When a pension remains fixed while food, medication, utilities and transport become more expensive, retirees must buy less, postpone essentials or rely more heavily on family,” Small-Ferguson remarked. He pointed to another alarming trend in Jamaica’s pensions industry by highlighting the Financial Service Commission’s (FSC) March 2026 consultation paper entitled, ‘Deepening Pension Adequacy and Coverage’.

It shows that contributors to public and private pension arrangements, excluding the National Insurance Scheme, represented less than 20 per cent of the employed labour force at the end of 2025. Small-Ferguson told the Parliament that international figures illustrate what wider pension participation can look like with the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that 56 per cent of civilian workers participated in employer-sponsored retirement arrangements in March 2026. The United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics reports that 82 per cent of employees belonged to workplace pension schemes in 2024, while in Costa Rica, the OECD’s Pensions at a Glance 2025 reports membership in mandatory-funded pension arrangements equivalent to 91.2 per cent of the working-age population in 2024.

“These experiences should encourage us to set a higher ambition for Jamaica, giving far more working people the opportunity to accumulate …