The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Retirement Fund board has drawn down funds from its own reserve account for the third time this year, as the government continues to struggle to meet its commitments.
The administrator of the Fund Karl Reyes says the board authorized the drawdown of one point five million U.S. dollars last week to meet pension payments.
He said the money was also being used for other items to pay bills amounting to about 300,000 US dollars.
The Retirement Fund pays out 2.3 million dollars for pensions each month.
The government is obliged to pay 1.3 million dollars into the Fund each pay period, but cannot manage a million.
Its arrears in employer contributions are now over 85 million US dollars.
