(MENAFN - Jordan Times) The Social Security Corporation (SSC) posted a 13.5 per cent increase in financial surplus last year, Director General Maen Nsour said at a press conference on Monday.
The surplus, which is the difference between the revenues generated from insurance subscription fees and funds spent to cover bill of services of pension salaries, work injuries and compensations among other obligations, reached JD256.5 million in 2011 compared with JD226 million in the previous year, Nsour said.
The SSC director pointed out that the surplus between 2009 and 2010 was only JD3 million.
Insurance revenues in 2011 increased by 12.8 per cent to JD778 million from JD632 million in 2010, which Nsour attributed to the project to expand the number of establishments under the umbrella of the corporation, which concluded at the end of last year, in addition to launching more insurance types such as the maternity and unemployment.
The rise in revenues, however was coupled with an increase in expenditures to cover insurance services of pensions, work injuries and compensations, which went up by 15 per cent last year to reach JD493 million compared with JD429 million in 2010.
The SSC director pointed out that the corporation's administrative and operational spending dropped last year by JD4.7 million to JD28.8 million from JD33.5 million.
He elaborated that the drop in such expenditure was due to the efficiency measures that included a drop in travel and advertisement bills in addition to reducing the costs of stationery and training.
According to Nsour, the number of SSC subscribers is expected to exceed one million this year.
Indicating that the number of people covered with social security insurance reached 956,000 in 2011, Nsour said at the press conference that the number of establishments included under the corporation's umbrella increased from 27,905 in 2010 to 61,318 by the end of last year, a 120 per cent rise.
He explained that the projected increase in the number of beneficiaries is attributed to amendments made to the SSC Law, which enable different segments of society, such as housewives, to optionally subscribe to the services of the corporation in addition to the expansion project launched late 2008.
The top executive said the number of subscribers who joined the social security services voluntarily went up to 57,685 last year from 52,323 people in the previous year.
He noted that the SSC has prepared a strategic plan for the coming five years, adding that an actuarial study, which is being conducted in cooperation with the International Labour Organisation, is expected to be ready by the middle of next year.
The number of pensioners is currently 135,000 people, he said.
Nsour indicated that the number of work injuries went down in 2011 to around 15,000 incidents compared with over 17,000 in the previous year, attributing the drop to the fact that the new SSC law gives incentives to establishments that implement proper safety measures, whereas companies and factories that do not abide the safety regulations may be subject to higher subscription fees.
