The National Social Security Authority (NSSA) has made funds available for lending to former national pension fund contributors who have been retrenched, to help them finance their business projects.
The loan interest rate will be 10%.
The authority is making $5 million available for this purpose to two commercial banks for lending to people who have been retrenched and have viable business projects, provided they were contributing to the national pension fund while in employment.
The loans, which will be for amounts of between $500 and $5 000, will be repayable within periods of six to 12 months.
The two banks being provided with the funds for lending to retrenched former national pension fund contributors are Metropolitan Bank and FBC Bank.
Those wishing to apply for the loans can apply at any branch of these banks. They will have to satisfy the bank’s lending criteria.
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In addition they will have to provide their retrenchment letter and their national social security number.
If they have an existing business, they will also need to furnish proof they are up-to-date with their NSSA contributions.
If they are not, they will need to regularise their position with NSSA before applying for the loan. The loan applications will be vetted both by the bank and by NSSA. The banks will assess the application in terms of their lending criteria and risk assessment.
NSSA will verify whether or not the applicant has contributed to the national pension scheme and, in the case of those with existing businesses, up to date payments with NSSA will be a must.