Premier Wayne Panton has said the planned September end for the pension holiday and the electricity cost relief programme will remain as of now, but government will keep both initiatives “under review”.
The two initiatives are aimed at assisting the community and businesses with cost of living challenges that have been compounded by the pandemic and rising fuel costs.
Both are set to end on 30 Sept.
Speaking at a COVID media briefing Friday, Panton said the country is moving in a “very positive” direction, and the trend is set to continue as the air travel projections show increasing capacity in the months ahead.
Cayman implemented strict border control measures in 2020 to slow the spread of COVID-19, which was one of the factors prompting the pension holiday. Last week, government announced it is dropping all remaining travel-related COVID restrictions.
“Honestly, we have put a big dent in the private pensions and it is time for us to seriously consider how we move forward with that, and we don’t want to start by just continuing to extend that holiday,” Panton said.
“Things have got to start to get back to normal, people have got to start to rebuild their pension accounts.”
He said government will “wait and see” how the next couple of months look, and if further relief assistance is required or “some movement or action is required, then we’ll consider that”.
When it comes to the electricity bill relief programme, Panton said it was designed to provide assistance to the community through the three hottest months of the year – July, August and September – which are also the highest consumption months.
He said government will keep an eye on prices.
“We import inflation, we don’t generate it here from our own monetary policy or otherwise, and there is an indication that there is a reduction in the rate of increasing inflation. It may be that in two or three months time circumstances are significantly different… we have a reduction or perhaps even an elimination of the rate of increase in inflation,” he said.
Adding to this, he said Cayman has rapidly accelerating opportunities and income with people coming in, “so we’ve got even better economic growth on the horizon”.
Essentially, the country will be in a better place where additional assistance may not be required, Panton suggested.
Under the government assistance programme, a fuel credit for residential customers who have monthly consumption between 101 kWh and 2,000 kWh has been applied to bills over the summer months.
“No matter how much higher the fuel costs go above $.015/kWh this summer, Government will absorb the difference. For eligible households, electricity customers can expect to see the government assistance credit of up to $100 off their bill depending on their consumption,” a government statement said of the programme.
Residential customers with usage greater than 2,000 kWh per month and lower than 101 kWh did not qualify for the programme.
In its first month, government paid out $1.2 million in electricity cost relief to combat rising fuel prices that are driving up utility bills.
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