Times Of Swaziland: TEACHERS TO GET 9.5% INTEREST FROM SAVINGS TEACHERS TO GET 9.5% INTEREST FROM SAVINGS ================================================================================ Stanley Khumalo on 24/11/2022 06:57:00 MANZINI - Teachers are ecstatic as they will receive 9.5 per cent interest on their savings. Educators subscribing to the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Savings and Credit Co-operative Society (SACCO) were on Saturday, during their annual general meeting (AGM) held at the Mavuso Trade and Exhibition Centre, informed that they would receive an interest of 9.5 per cent and five per cent savings on their shares. The teachers expressed their joy in various media platforms as they highlighted that there was a great turnaround time in the awarding of their dividends and further sung praises to the leaders of SACCO. The AGM was convened after an absence of two years due to the advent of COVID-19 which was coupled with restrictions as a precautionary measure to curb its spread. Confirmed This was confirmed by the Chairperson of the SACCO, Gugu Mabuza. She said the dividends were at 9.5 per cent for the second consecutive time following that their core-business, which is issuing loans to members did well. Mabuza said the members will also receive five per cent on their standard shares, which stand at E5 400 per member. During the AGM, Mabuza reportedly conveyed that the global economic landscape was not doing well while the economy was recovering from the effects of COVID-19 and in addition, there was the Russia - Ukraine war (in progress) which undermined recovery. A report of activities of the Loans Department for the 2021/2022 financial year states that the SACCO Loans Policy stipulated that loans product granting should be based on member’s savings. It stated that the member’s savings had increased from E480 782 563 to E548 326 654 by June 2022, even though the SACCO had experienced membership withdrawals. This was said to be a five per cent increment. The members were informed that it was imperative that membership was retained even after retirement and retired members continued saving in order to access loans or financial assistance without a challenge. The members were informed that the increase in their savings had also allowed more room for them to seek loans and as such, during the year under review, the society disbursed a total of E306 985 632 in respect of loans to members compared to E446 247 692 advanced in the previous year, 2021. This was said to have tallied to a drop of 32.5 per cent, owing to the discontinuing of the consolidation loan which had high figures in the previous years. It was reported that SACCO disbursed a total of E4 982 822.50 in the special loans product to 18 beneficiaries and two applications were declined as members could not meet requirements as stipulated in the Loans Policy. On business loans, SACCO was said to have disbursed a total of E2 088 495.90 to 21 beneficiaries while there was one beneficiary of the rural housing loan who received a total of E250 000. The members were informed that the product was subsequently discontinued upon identification of unacceptable risk exposure. The SACCO, according to the report, disbursed a total amount of E71 751 673 under the personal loans to 4 344 beneficiaries while 30 applications were declined due to over commitment caused by advanced stop order repayments. The helpline loans were said to have benefitted 3 015 members as a total of E23 105 719 was issued out while the short loans disbursed a total of E5 047 520 and had 1 986 beneficiaries. The members were also informed that the society disbursed a total amount of E199 601 741.30 under the standard loans to 3 933 beneficiaries while a total of 30 applications were declined due to over commitment. The least issued loans were said to be the school fees loans, which disbursed a total amount of E157 660 as a total of 30 applications were declined due to unaffordability’s challenges.