The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Matia Kasaija has declared a 10% interest rate on savers money during the Annual Members Meeting in Kampala on Tuesday.

Kasaija congratulated the NSSF Board and Management for posting a remarkable performance on almost all the Key Performance Indicators.

“In accordance with section 35(2) of the NSSF Act, as amended, I hereby declare an interest rate of 10%,” the jovial finance minister declared amidst waiting members of the Fund.

“As provided for in the NSSF Act, as amended, this new rate will be calculated and credited to the balance outstanding on the members’ accounts as of 1st July 2022,” he added.

This new rate equals UGX 1.591 trillion shillings in total, he added.

He expressed gladness that the Fund’s assets registered growth again from Shs17.26 trillion in Financial Year 2021/22 to Shs18.56 trillion in Financial Year 2023/24.

“Many naysayers did not imagine the possibility of growing this Fund to Shs20 trillion. That you will achieve that strategic objective a year ahead of schedule is laudable,” he stated.

Adding: “The second KPI I am interested in is the money you generated during the year because that shows the productivity of the investments that I approved during the year.”

“I am therefore glad that the total realised income earned increased by 15% from Ugx 1.9 trillion in the Financial Year 2022/22 to Ugx 2.2 trillion in the Financial Year 2022/23.”

The minister said the performance is commendable given the turmoil in Europe due to the Russia-Ukraine war, investor flight from most of the developing markets back to the US, reduction in value across all East African stock markets and the increased scrutiny that the Fund underwent in the 3rdquarter of the just concluded Financial Year.

The minister revealed that in 2013, the Fund made a commitment to pay savers a real annual return, that is, at least 2 percentage points above the 10-year rate of inflation.

“Last Financial Year, the 10-year average rate of inflation was 4.2%. The rate I have just declared is 5.8% above the 10-year average, which means that the Fund has once again delivered on its promise and surpassed it by almost 3.8%,” he said.