- He said the financial inclusion fund has been a success.
- The total repayment is inching towards Sh28 billion.
Image: FILE
The Hustler Fund, a key element of the Kenya Kwanza manifesto, has been a success, Cooperatives and MSMEs Development Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui has said.
Chelugui said the financial inclusion fund has made a huge impact in the financial market noting that commercial banks were now taking cue and following the Fund’s model to build and promote their business.
"From the data, I can proudly say the Hustler Fund personal product has been a success; we now know who the real hustlers from the over 21 million Kenyans who have borrowed the money," he said.
President William Ruto launched the Hustler Fund on November 30 last year, meaning that the financial inclusion fund is about to turn one-year old now.
"As a government, we are putting our efforts in the small scale businesses (MSMEs) because that is one of our strategies to uplift people at the bottom of the pyramid," Chelugui said.
According to the data that CS Chelugui released Monday, some Sh38.4 billion had been disbursed by 9am with repayment inching towards Sh28 billion.
The savings kitty now stands at slightly over Sh1.9 billion.
For the group's product, so far, some 524,724 groups have been created with some 1,162,113 members approved.
Sh162 million has been disbursed to the groups with a total repayment of Sh22 million and Sh8 million for the savings.
The personal loan is offered in such a way that if an individual borrows Sh1, 000, they are charged an interest of Sh3.60 should they repay on the 14th day.
But, not all the money will be released to the borrower. Five per cent of the loan will be deposited to a borrower's savings account.
For example, for a Sh1,000 loan, Sh50 is deducted whereas Sh35 accounting for 70 per cent is channeled to a long-term savings account of the borrower while Sh15 which is 30 per cent sent to the short-term savings account.
This 30 per cent of the total money saved will be accessible after one year while the remainder is accessible after 60 years.