Payments the state has pending with the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS) corresponding to 2023 amount to $1.194 million in pension contributions and $235 million in health benefits through September. They total 1.429 million dollars.

These figures are contained in a statement issued by the IESS itself this Monday, October 2, which states that the Ministry of Economy and Finance “has expressed its best willingness to pay the pending amounts” and that it expects to continue receiving the amounts which he owes.

Minister Arosemena says that he “cannot promise impossible things” regarding the amounts owed to IESS

Although in previous letters the authorities of the IESS pointed out the complex situation in which the Pension Fund finds itself and the risk of non-payment of pensions due to the growing debt retained by the state, the recent statement of the IESS “emphasizes the efforts of the ministry to respect the historical debt with the institution, including that of previous government, after paying out more than $4,230 million from 2021 to 2023, which was properly allocated to special purposes: pensions, $3,908 million, and health benefits, $322 million.”

This announcement was published on the official profile of IESS, chaired by Alfredo Ortega, delegate of the Executive Board to the Board of Directors of that institution. Last Thursday, a meeting was held between representatives of social security and the Government where this topic was discussed.

The letters sent to the Ministry of Economy a few weeks ago were from the director of IESS, Diego Salgado, and the employers’ representative on the Board of Directors, Maria de los Ángeles Rodríguez.

State debt to IESS of $10.151 million puts pension payments at risk and weakens fund, authorities warn

Salgado indicated in August that between January 2012 and June 2023, the state owed Social Security $4,936.1 million for 40% of contributions: $3,851.4 million in contributions and $1,084.6 million in interest generated. And that there was a debt of 4.83 billion dollars for healthcare. These are items that make up a debt of 10,151.9 million dollars.

In September, Rodríguez explained that due to non-payment of state obligations to IESS, for 40% and other pension items, the institution “was forced to separate approximately 480 million dollars from the portfolio of the Pension Fund, managed by Biess. , until now in 2023; “an amount that could be $1,511 million by the end of the current fiscal year.” And that this contradicts the financial and actuarial sustainability of the said fund, decapitalizing it and creating lost profits.