The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has collected more than Ugx 100 billion in contributions from its members in the month of June 2017, ending a challenging financial year on a high, the Managing Director Richard Byarugaba has said.
It is the first time that the Fund has hit the Ugx 100 billion mark in contributions in a single month; the previous highest mark was Ugx 85 billion that was collected in June 2016.
“This UGX100 billion plus contributions collection performance in a single month is the best ever in the history of the Fund. 2016/17 has been a challenging financial year, but we have come through with yet another collections milestone that is above our monthly collections target of Ugx 77 billion. I applaud all staff at the Fund for their tireless efforts,” Mr. Byarugaba said.
Byarugaba added that he is optimistic the Fund will better last year’s overall financial performance, in spite of the challenges the economy faced in the just concluded financial year, which have had an effect on the business environment.
“We have started appraising our overall performance for the just concluded financial year and we will communicate to our members after completion of this process. But going by our reviews over the last 12 months, I am positive that we have created value for our members”, he said.
Last year, Byarugaba told journalists that despite posting a good return for the year 2015/16, the Fund’s performance was affected by stock markets decline across East Africa that distressed the Fund’s equity portfolio. Other factors included volatility of the Uganda shilling against foreign currencies and pre and post-election uncertainly, which had a knock on effect on the business environment.
As a result, the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Planning Matia Kasaija declared an interest rate of 12.3% interest, worth over Ugx 606 billion credited to NSSF members’ accounts.
Byarugaba could not confirm the new interest rate that the Fund will pay, but said that it will be declared by the Minister, in accordance with the NSSF Act.
“The declaration by the Minister will happen possibly in September this year and will depend on how well the Fund has performed. However, I can confirm is that the rate will not be less than the 10 year average rate of inflation plus 2 percentage points, which is in line with our commitment to pay our members a real return,” he said.
NSSF invests in fixed income, real estate and equities. It is the largest institutional investor on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) and one of the largest domestic holders of Government of Uganda debt.
