NUGS Accepts New Loan Scheme
THE NATIONAL Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), after a marathon deliberation with the board of directors of the new Students' Loan Trust Fund (SLTF), has approved the new interest rate on the loan.
Initially, the board had proposed a Government of Ghana 182-Day Treasury Bill rate plus 4 per cent at repayment period, which generality of students considered “astronomical” and consequently rejected.
Now however, it has been reduced to an acceptable 182-Day Treasury Bill rate plus 2 per cent at repayment period.
At a press conference in Accra, the president of NUGS, Mr. William Yamoah noted that “the union has been able to secure a ceiling with the board, which means that anytime the Treasury Bill rate appreciates beyond 12 per cent, the Union would be invited for negotiations regarding the interest rate to be charged on loans students take”.
According to him, the decision to accept the new deal with the board was based on expert advice from certain renowned fund managers and financial researchers in the country.
Apart from these demands, which have been accepted by the board, Mr. Yamoah enumerated the merits of the new scheme.
“The scheme makes provision for one guarantor, being a parent or a guardian; it also provides an insurance package which will be introduced soon to take care of incidence of death and invalidation; and in addition, the board has also promised to disburse the loans in time and has also instituted an in-built repayment programme for the sustenance of the scheme.”
He expressed the hope that the economy would continue to reflect a reasonable Treasury Bill rate to help reduce the plight of the Ghanaian student.
Mr. Yamoah therefore appealed “to all students in Ghana to render their unflinching support to ensure the scheme is sustained for the benefit of generations yet to be born”.
He also urged all first-year students who have applied to the scheme to complete their application processes towards the payment of their loans, since the new scheme starts with first year students.