President Bharrat Jagdeo has once again vowed that the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) will not lose its almost $6 billion investment in CLICO.

At a press conference on Friday, President Jagdeo was asked about the impact that the possible loss of the investment could have on the NIS. In response, Jagdeo said the “NIS has not lost a cent because …they will be paid back.”

When asked where this money will come from, the Head of State said “from the US$15 million [the Petroleum Fund], from the sale of the assets which we’re trying to do now, from hopefully the receivable from BOSAI, if we get those three, we can clear most of the liabilities without resorting to the treasury.”

Jagdeo emphasised that money would only be taken from the treasury as a final resort. “In the worst case, if we can’t clear all the liabilities it’s a resort to the treasury,” he said.

The NIS investment in CLICO (Guyana) has come under intense scrutiny ever since the financial woes of the insurance company were publicized.  On February 25, Commissioner of Insurance Maria van Beek had moved to the high court to have CLICO Guyana placed under judicial management. This was done following an order issued by the Supreme Court in Nassau to send CLICO (Bahamas) into liquidation on February, 24.  Investigations regarding Guyana’s $6.9 billion (US$34 million) investment revealed that although this sum was liquid on paper, it had been tied up in real estate investments that CLICO (Bahamas) had in Florida via subsidiaries.

In a press conference on March 23, Chairman of the NIS Board Dr Roger Luncheon said that the scheme had pursued investments in the insurance company because they were lucrative.

The chairman at that press conference also refuted suggestions that the collapse of that scheme was imminent. He said that the most up-to-date information with regard to the financial operations of the scheme clearly suggested otherwise.