Khaberni - The President of the Senate, Faisal Al-Fayez, emphasized the necessity for the Social Security Corporation to inform the citizens about the true financial situation of the institution, and its ability to continue fulfilling its various insurance obligations to its subscribers in the future.
This came during his chairing of the meeting, which was held by the Labor and Social Development Committee in the Senate today, Monday, along with the head of the committee, Essa Murad, with the aim of examining the results of the actuarial study, which was announced by the Social Security Corporation, about its future financial situation, in the presence of both the Minister of Labor, Dr. Khaled Al-Bakkar, the Chairman of the Board of the Social Security Investment Fund, Omar Malhas, the President of the Social Security Investment Fund, Dr. Azaldin Kanakrieh, and the Director-General of Social Security, Dr. Jadallah Al-Khalaileh.
Al-Fayez said that preserving the Social Security Corporation is everyone's responsibility, stemming from its national role in providing social and economic protection for individuals, through ensuring a minimum income, addressing poverty, and supporting job stability, through benefits like old-age, disability, death, and maternity, in addition to contributing to economic development, through savings mechanisms and income distribution among generations. It is a national institution that contributes to achieving social security and economic development in the kingdom.
Al-Fayez indicated that this meeting also aimed to review the steps and measures taken by the institution to strengthen its financial stability and ensure its ability to cover its future obligations, and to check the extent to which the institution's obligations exceed its revenues.
The President of the Senate mentioned that there were questions about the nature of the investments made by the institution, through its various investment arms, and through the Social Security Investment Fund, the feasibility of these investments, their success, their reflection on the institution's revenues and financial position, and also questions about the government borrowing from social security funds and its impact on the financial position of the institution, although the government is committed to repaying what is due on it according to the specified deadlines, and even though the investment returns of the government borrowing for the institution are very significant, according to what was declared by the officials in the institution. Nevertheless, this matter needs clarification to the public and informing them about its reality.
Regarding early retirement, which has recently been much discussed about its impact on the financial position of the institution, Al-Fayez emphasized the need to clarify this matter, and expressed the readiness of the Senate to consider any legal legislation needed by the institution to protect its financial position and enhance it, increase its resilience and strength, and to avoid any future risks, should early retirement continue under the current law.
He pointed out that the Social Security Corporation, its permanence and resilience are of interest to every citizen, as all workers in the public and private sectors, in addition to the majority of retirees, are now covered under the social security umbrella, and they have the right to be assured of their future and their financial rights, and this places a significant responsibility on the institution to protect their rights, through taking measures and adopting policies, to ensure the financial flows of the institution, and it must also continue to conduct actuarial studies, to monitor the financial position of the institution, with the aim of addressing any imbalances that may negatively affect the institution and the rights of the citizens in the future.
On his part, the head of the committee, Essa Murad, stated that the Social Security Corporation plays a pivotal role in enhancing social protection, and the meeting was held to discuss the details of the actuarial study and its results and breakeven points, clarifying that the funds in the Social Security are the funds of the subscribers in the institution and asserted that protecting and investing these funds is the institution's duty for the sustainability of these funds.
In turn, Minister Al-Bakkar stated that holding the meeting in the presence of the President of the Senate reaffirms the council's interest in the actuarial study and its results and in coming out with recommendations and feedback, pointing out that the development of the actuarial study takes place through an international actuarial expert involving “the International Monetary Fund, the International Labor Organization, and the World Bank” regularly every three years, clarifying that the study is a legislative requirement mandated by the Social Security Law and aims to foresee the future financial and actuarial situation of the social protection funds.
Al-Bakkar explained that the study was based on data from 2013-2023 and he pointed out that calculating the revenues and insurance programs against expenses and the outputs of that study determine the breakeven points in that study where it pointed out that in 2030, for the first time, the expenses of the old-age, disability, and death fund will exceed the amounts collected by the institution from subscriptions, and in the year 2038, the insurance expenses will exceed the amounts collected by the institution from subscriptions added to it from investment revenues, and that the ministry, in cooperation with the security, has put in place reformative measures to limit evasion from paying subscriptions and to regulate unorganized labor, thus boosting the revenues for the institution. He added that there is a plan to restructure the institution and enhance governance in the decision-making mechanism to increase the number of years needed to reach the first breakeven point.
Meanwhile, Malhas said that the initial financial data for the year 2025 shows that the assets of the fund achieved a record growth of 2.4 billion dinars, reaching 18.6 billion dinars at the end of the year, compared to 16.2 billion dinars at the end of 2024, with a growth rate of 15%.
He explained that these results confirm the consistent performance of the fund with its long-term investment approach, where the achievement of growth is based on well-considered decisions built on a deep understanding of the economic and financial market cycles and their transformations, and on conscious management of the timing of opportunities, away from any circumstantial or short-term gains. He noted that this makes the fund's performance a direct mirror of the national economy and investor confidence.
Furthermore, Dr. Azaldin Kanakrieh said that the growth in the fund's assets was achieved as a result of the increase in total income which reached about 2.2 billion dinars at the end of 2025, compared with one billion dinars at the end of 2024, with a growth rate of about 116%, in addition to the insurance surplus transferred from the Social Security Corporation amounting to about 200 million dinars. He also highlighted that the increase in total income was due to net returns from investment portfolios of about 1.1 billion dinars and a growth rate of 21.7%, and the net increase in the valuation of the strategic equity portfolio by about 1.1 billion dinars.
In conclusion, the committee appreciated the invitation from the Ministry and the institution and confirmed the positive collaborative efforts in holding a national dialog that contributes with various community sectors, focusing on maintaining the financial sustainability of the institution, and protecting those with low retirement incomes.
