School children’s grant now $15,000, old-age pension now $25,000

As part of the budgetary measures in the 2021 National Budget, each school child will benefit from a $15,000 cash grant while the old-age pension has been increased to $25,000, with effect from January 2021.

Making this announcement was Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh during the presentation of the 2021 National Budget.

The old-age pension was previously $20,500. The increase will benefit over 60,000 persons and put an additional $4B of disposable income in their hands.

In addition to these measures, the public assistance payment has been increased from $9,000 to $12,000 monthly, benefitting some 13,000 persons and Value Added Tax (VAT) has been removed from data for residential and individual use.