PENSIONS | Today from 2:30 p.m. SAP: Adjustments to the agenda of the Economic Committee of...

The Economic Committee of the Cabinet, approved last Friday, will meet today at 2:30 p.m. under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, to examine the necessary adjustments to the State Age Pension (SAP), following the government's decision to abandon the introduction of a Means Test initially envisaged as part of the 2026/27 budget speech.

This was announced by the Minister of Social Integration, Social Security and National Solidarity, Ashok Subron, at the National Assembly yesterday, in response to a question from Adrien Duval, Opposition Whip. He indicated that this body will study all the modalities linked to the reduced pension system (Reduced Pension Age), in particular the adjustments to be made after the abandonment of the means test. "The committee will examine all aspects of this question tomorrow (editor’s note: today) at 2:30 p.m.,” he declared.

During his response, Ashok Subron also returned to the demographic data which is used to calculate the actuarial reduction applied to pensions taken early. He specified that, according to the latest data from Statistics Mauritius for 2025, the gap in life expectancy at birth between men and women is 7.3 years, and not 6.8 years as mentioned by the MP.

However, the Minister of Social Security highlighted that it is more relevant to base it on life expectancy from the age of 60. At this age, the gap between men and women is 4.1 years in 2025. He indicated that this is the practice adopted internationally and that the calculation of the actuarial reduction is based on average life expectancy at 60 years as well as on investment return assumptions, without distinction. between the sexes.

Ashok Subron also indicated that this principle is already enshrined in the National Pensions Act, which currently provides for a monthly actuarial reduction of 0.45%. According to the information communicated to the ministry, the committee of experts recalculated this rate to 0.5% per month based on the new demographic data available.

The minister maintains that, even if women generally live longer than men, the government does not intend to apply a different reduction rate depending on sex.

During his intervention, Adrien Duval noted that, according to the budget annexes, a person choosing to receive their pension from the age of 60 would receive the same amount until their death. The MP asked whether this would indeed be the case. In response, Ashok Subron said all issues relating to adjustments applicable between 60 and 70 years of age would be considered by the Cabinet's economic committee during today's meeting.