The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has collected Shs121 billion for the period of January 1 to 24, 2023 compared to the same period last year where Shs94 billion was collected – translating to a 24 per cent increment.
Mr Patrick Ayota, NSSF’s Deputy Managing Director, revealed this during a press briefing on Wednesday morning while updating members and the general public on the state of the Fund as of December 31, 2022.
The Fund was worth Shs17.88 trillion as of December 31, 2022, with 78% invested in fixed income, 15% in equities and 7% in real estate.
Ayota said the Fund’s portfolio mix is informed by three key factors namely; the long-term funding needs, the need for diversification, and the reduction of market risk.
Contributions have increased by 22% from Shs643 billion in December 2021 to Shs786 in December 2022 against this financial year target of Shs1,630 billion.
In terms of investments, Ayota said the realized income was Shs1.054 trillion, adding that the budget they had for that was about Shs900 billion meaning the Fund got about Shs100 billion more in realized income.
Benefits paid to qualifying members increased by 96% to Shs712 billion in December 2022 from Shs364 billion over the same period last Financial Year.
“For Assets Under Management, we started the year with Shs17.65 trillion and ended at Shs17.88 trillion as of the end of December. Between July and December, there has been Shs600 billion growth in the Fund’s asset base,” he added.
The Amendment Bill assented to by President Museveni has had a positive effect in terms of new recruitment of members to the Fund. 2,078 employers have been registered over the last six months. This is an increase of about 113% compared to the same period last Financial Year.
“67,277 employees have been registered over the last six months. This is an increase of about 32.5% compared to the same period last Financial Year when the Fund registered only 50,762 employees,” Ayota confirmed.
For the rest of the year, Ayota expects to hit the targets of Shs1,630 billion in contributions, Shs1,947 billion in realized income, Shs1,278 billion in benefits and Shs18,988 trillion for the fund’s asset base.
“The Amendment act gave the Fund two mandates; to expand social security coverage and ensure compliance. To fulfill this mandate, the Fund has developed a plan that revolves around two pillars which are creating the capacity of Ugandans to save and creating a willingness by Ugandans to save,” Ayota said.
