The Fiji National Provident Fund has appointed Mercer Australia, to be the Actuarial Consultant to review the Pension Scheme.

Chairman Parmesh Chand said the review is part of the reforms to ensure its major product, which is pension, remains viable and sustainable in the future.

He added without a pension reform, members will experience an eroding pension scheme.

Chand said the review will highlight options the Fund can take to be sustainable hence making the pension scheme a standalone component of the Fund. He adds the discrepancies between the pension income and pension payments continue to increase, rising from $4.5million in 2003 to $20.4 million in 2008.

Chand said the current pension returns or annuity rate stands at 15% and an assessment held by the World Bank in 2008 suggested that the rate was still not sustainable for the Fund in the long term and this needed to be reduced further.

The review will start soon and is expected to be completed within two months.