SSB Invests $10M Contributors’ Funds in Heritage Bank Deal

The Social Security Board (SSB) announced last December that it planned to invest $10 million of contributors’ money in a fixed‑term deposit with Heritage Bank Limited. The move affects payments made each month by thousands of Belizean workers and employers.

According to a notice in the Belize Gazette, the money will be held with the bank for two years at a fixed interest rate of 2.75%, expected to earn about $275,000 annually.

The release read, “Heritage Bank Limited is a licensed domestic commercial bank regulated by the Central Bank of Belize and has consistently maintained capital adequacy and liquidity levels above statutory requirements.”

Speaking with News Five, Vanessa Vellos, SSB’s Communications and PR Manager, said the board chose this investment after careful calculations. “The SSB has an investment committee, and there is a certain amount of liquidity, if you will, that the SSB has. And at the time, the Investment Services Department had done some calculations, and they determined that that was a figure that they wanted to invest in,” she said. 

Term deposits are not new for the board. Vellos added that similar term deposit investments with two other banks have been done before, where the investments performed well and delivered strong returns. That track record gave the board confidence that the Heritage Bank placement would also be a safe and worthwhile option.

The release noted that the investment is designed to earn returns on funds that would otherwise bring in little or no interest and would be made in parts, or “multiple tranches”, to preserve flexibility.

SSB stressed that the income from the investment will support the long‑term stability of the Social Security Fund, which covers payments such as pensions and sickness benefits. 

“Yes, the investment has been finalised, and so far it is progressing well. We didn’t get any objections to the investment,” Vellos said.