Khaberni - The Engineers' Retirement Fund stands today at a pivotal moment, intersecting the past burdens with current mandates, raising fundamental questions about the future of a system that has been one of the key pillars of social security for engineers for decades. The challenge faced by the fund did not arise suddenly but developed over a long course of accumulated policies and decisions, leaving a financial and actuarial imbalance that now requires profound measures beyond temporary solutions.
According to a statement from the Jordanian Engineers Association, current estimates indicate a funding gap of approximately 1.6 billion dinars, at a time when immediate liabilities until the end of year 2025 amount to about 84 million dinars, most of which are unpaid retirement salaries. The annual retirement salary bill reaches about 65 million dinars, with an annual deficit of about 30 million dinars, reflecting the magnitude of financial pressure faced by the fund.
These figures are not momentary; they are the result of accumulations that began since the fund was established in 1973. Throughout its journey, the system has gone through multiple legislative and administrative stages which affected its actuarial balance, including the approval of increases on retirement salaries without a corresponding adjustment in the subscription structure, canceling compulsory membership in certain periods, in addition to achieving investment returns that came below the assumptions adopted in the actuarial studies, gradually deepening the structural malfunction.
The financial data shows that the fund reached its first break-even point in 2013, before exceeding the second break-even point in 2014, when subscription revenues and investments were no longer sufficient to cover liabilities, necessitating withdrawals from the investment portfolio profits. By 2017, the fund entered a more sensitive phase, as available revenues failed to cover retirement salaries, leading to asset sales to pay the obligations.
Faced with this reality, the current council of the Engineers Association began managing this complex legacy through a set of measures primarily aimed at containing immediate risks and protecting what remains of the fund's assets. These measures included financial and administrative separation between funds, halting the generation of financial receivables, suspending bank borrowing for paying retirement salaries, and freezing asset sales in the absence of a long-term strategy, in addition to divesting from unsuitable investments and redirecting the investment portfolio based on specialized technical studies.
Meanwhile, in parallel with the immediate treatments, the association moved towards an institutional and scientific approach, by contracting the Social Security institution to prepare the tenth actuarial study, expected to be completed in the first half of year 2026. The executive management was also tasked with preparing a comprehensive study of the fund's situation since its establishment, aimed at diagnosing the financing gap and proposing practical alternatives and solutions, alongside accelerating digital transformation projects and enhancing the efficiency of the administration.
In the context of broadening the consultation circle, an expanded steering committee consisting of 74 members was formed, working through specialized teams that have prepared five actuarial scenarios currently being discussed, with the results of the tenth actuarial study to be the primary reference base for any subsequent executive decisions.
The council confirms that any anticipated reforms will consider justice among various groups related to the fund, covering retirees, current subscribers, and recently graduated engineers, emphasizing not to burden the young engineers or diminish their future prospects, and ensuring the protection of acquired rights and the sustainability of the system for future generations.
Experts believe that the actions taken have contributed to reducing immediate risks and buying time, but they do not represent a final solution to the accumulated structural imbalance, rendering the next phase contingent on a package of legislative, financial, and technical reforms that will restore balance to the system and set the retirement fund on a path of true sustainability after years of challenges.
