‘SSC generated JD10.523b in revenues since establishment in 1978’

AMMAN — The Social Security Corporation’s (SSC) revenues, since its establishment in 1978 and until the end of October, reached JD10.523 billion, SSC Spokesperson Musa Sbeihi said Wednesday.

At a symposium dubbed “Social security... reforms, challenges and the future”, organised by the Arab Cultural Forum, Sbeihi noted that expenditure during the same period amounted to  JD5.875 billion, according to an SSC statement.

The monthly pension bill is around JD63 million, of which JD36.5 million is for early retirees, the spokesperson said, noting that early retirement pensions constitute some 57 per cent of the total.

He added that there are 80,609 early retirees who comprise 45 per cent of the total 178,000 retirees, with the average age of all retirees standing at 52 years and for early retirees at 50 years, according to the statement.

Sbeihi said the previous temporary social security law halted the early retirement system, but it has since been restored under the new Social Security Law, which offers two options. 

Under the first, both male and female subscribers can ask for early retirement at the age of 45 if they have completed 25 years of subscription.  

The second enables subscribers aged 50 with subscriptions of no less than 21 years for males and 19 years for females to request early retirement, the statement quoted the spokesperson as saying.

He also noted that among the most important changes in the current Social Security Law is raising the allowance for three dependants by 20 to 24 per cent, from between JD20 and JD100 to between JD30 and JD150.

Sbeihi said the SSC also capped the highest salary subject to pension at JD3,000, a step aimed at achieving justice among subscribers.

There are 147 retirees whose pensions exceed JD5,000 a month, amounting to a monthly total of JD1.034 million, which equals the pensions of 2,685 retirees who receive an average of JD385, Sbeihi said.

Yousef Amaireh, head of the forum, highlighted its keenness to communicate with the local community and acquaint its members and citizens with national legislation, according to the SSC statement.