The government will invest Hustler fund borrowers’ savings in government securities, President William Ruto has said.
Speaking to Journalists on Wednesday, the head of state said government securities are secure adding that the government has come up with an organization that has been licensed by the RBA to manage the savings.
He said that once the investment starts, Kenyans will be able to see how much they have saved and the profit gained, through an application.
He said the amount the total amount received so far is approximately 700 million shillings. The head of state earlier disclosed that Kenyans had borrowed 20 billion shillings from the Hustler fund as of December 31. This is an increase from the 9.58 billion shillings that had been borrowed by December 20 underlying the Kenyans’ huge reliance on loans amid the high cost of living.
He said many Kenyans continue to borrow from the government kitty to boost their businesses. According to Dr. Ruto, borrowing from the 50 billion shillings government kitty will not only shield Kenyans from harassment but also help in getting rid of cartels, and brokers who have been taking advantage of vulnerable borrowers.
The government-backed fund has attracted a lot of borrowers since its launch on November 30, owing to its low-interest rate of 0.02 percent per day. The loan limits for individuals from the fund were set at a minimum of 500 shillings and a maximum of 50,000 shillings.
As of December 20, some 16.59 million Kenyans had subscribed to the fund while 2.69 million customers had already borrowed more than once.
Nairobi reported the highest number of subscribers to the fund at 1.4 million, with the amount of money borrowed being 1.14 billion shillings. It was followed by Kiambu, Nakuru, and Machakos at 651 million shillings, 454 million shillings, and 354 million shillings respectively.
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