Prime Minister Gaston Browne told Parliament that the Social Security Scheme currently shows a surplus of more than $30 million and that the figure is expected to grow as the government continues reforms to strengthen the fund’s long-term stability.

Responding to questions from the Opposition Bench, Browne said the audited financial statements and management accounts of the Antigua and Barbuda Social Security Board had been filed with Parliament.

He explained that the normal procedure requires the documents to be sent first to the Ministry of Legal Affairs for inclusion on the parliamentary agenda. “I actually called Legal Affairs up to yesterday to make sure that the last set of audited financial statements as well as the management accounts are included in today’s agenda, and those documents have been duly filed,” Browne said.

When pressed about the state of the fund’s finances, Browne said that based on his most recent review, Social Security had “30 plus million in surplus,” a figure he described as a “moving target” that continues to improve with ongoing government interventions to ensure sustainability.