The Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), has been able to recover only 45% percent of loans disbursed nationwide.
This was disclosed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MASLOC, Abibata Shanni Mahama Zakaria, on the Super Morning Show on Wednesday. She indicated that out of GH₵204 million, her outfit has been able to retrieve GH₵90 million, which is about 45% of the amount disbursed.
She acknowledged that this recovery rate is unimpressive, as according to her, “any meaningful microfinance institution should be doing around 80% recovery.”
She bemoaned the fact that some beneficiaries do not want to pay back the loans because of a perception that the facility is a gift.
“For now, our recovery rates are not the best, it should have been at 80%, but it’s now 45%. We have people who take loans and they don’t want to pay them back. Some people still think taking money from MASLOC is free, which is far from the truth and people do not want to pay back the loans because of this.
“I think this is deliberate because even before you take the loans, you go through certain processes which tell you that it is not for free, and as the name of the institution suggests, they are loans and not grants. So I don’t know why someone can comfortably say those loans are free, unless it’s deliberate,” she said.
“Some people even say MASLOC is for the party in power, which is not the case but these are the realities on the ground and we’re working to erase that misconception,” she said.
Over the weekend, news about poor loan recovery rates at MASLOC broke out, with the CEO of the institution lamenting over the development. According to her, apart from the Ashanti Region, low recovery rates have been recorded across the country. She cited for instance, the cases of the Volta and Oti regions which she indicated recorded 11% and 16% recovery rates respectively.
She, thus, appealed to the general public, especially beneficiaries of the loan facilities, who are yet to clear their debts, to do so. She assured that her outfit is instituting measures to bring the situation under control, “we may send demand notices to defaulters and if those ones fail we may proceed to court.”
She also believes that sensitising beneficiaries on the loan facility and providing financial literacy to them before disbursing loans will significantly improve the recovery rate.