Imbert: Over $50m from Salary Relief Grant unused

Minister of Finance Colm Imbert announced over $131 million has been used to pay over 80,000 applicants for the Salary Relief Grant.He was responding to questions raised by MP for Barataria/ San Juan Saddam Hosein on the payment of the grants in Parliament, on Monday.

Imbert said a little over $50 million hasn’t been used from the $186.2 million that was disbursed to the National Insurance Board (NIB) in April.He said, “Up to today, total payments are $135,901,059. The current balance of unused funds from the $186.2 million already disbursed to the NIB is $50,298,940, and those funds will be used to pay persons who qualify for the grant.”He said the money used thus far has covered administrative expenses of $4,165,496, “and payments to a total of 33,970 persons but totalling over 80,000 payments, of $131,735,563” between April and October. He said a total of 69,346 applications had been received and about 12,000 rejected.

“They were deemed ineligible for the grant for reasons such as no NIS number, they applied outside the dates of eligibility of the grant, they were not dismissed due to covid19, no proof of citizenship, no ID cards and no statutory declaration, among others.”Imbert said, “The number of applicants paid via wire transfer system is 33,970, and those who do not have a bank account and have been paid by a reloadable debit card is 8,221.”The grant was introduced in April, when many businesses cut staff owing to the impact of the covid19 pandemic, leaving hundreds jobless or with a reduced income. The grant reaches up to $1,500 for up to three months.

The reloadable debit card was introduced for successful grant applicants who had an invalid bank account number or no bank account.