Published 25th March 2013, 12:14pm

The Cayman Islands National Pensions Law was amended in 2011 to allow pension members a one-time withdrawal of up to KYD$35,000.00 from their pension plan to purchase a home, construct a home, pay off an existing mortgage or purchase residential land.

From the inception of the Pension Withdrawal Programme in November 2011, over KYD$4.1 million has been injected into the economy through the programme with a multiplier effect indirectly contributing to GDP by creating work and income for other individuals. Equally important, is this programme has directly benefited Caymanians with appreciable assets, many of which are now owned outright.

Director of Labour and Pensions, Mr. Mario Ebanks is committed to timely and accurate delivery of quantitative and qualitative statistics as a result of the Pension Withdrawal Programme, and therefore is pleased to provide the public with current statistics, as at 20 March 2013.

Commenting on the programme, Minister of Education, Financial Services and Employment Hon. Rolston Anglin, JP stated, “I am delighted that people have taken advantage of the Pension Withdrawal Programme to either construct a home, purchase a home, pay off their mortgage or purchase land. This means that more of our people either own their own place outright or have been able to buy that house or land they need to better their future. I would like to thank the Department of Labour & Pensions for all of their hard work on this project and ensuring this programme runs smoothly.”

The Department of Labour and Pensions is now located on the 2nd floor of Mid-Town Plaza on Elgin Avenue and is open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday-Friday; telephone: 945-8960, fax: 945-8961. The confidential hotline for labour and pensions complaints is: 945-3073.