SSS cuts interest rates by 3%

THE Social Security System (SSS) is lowering anew monthly interest rates for its commercial and personal loans to boost benefits for its members and beneficiaries.

SSS President and Chief Operating Officer (CEO) Emilio de Quiros Jr. said that the lower interest rates were the lowest the agency had offered in 11 years.

“Our current interest rate scenario requires lower interest rates and we would like to attune our dues to the market,” De Quiros told reporters in a press conference on the Kapihan sa SSS yesterday.

De Quiros and other senior officials of the SSS met in Cebu City yesterday to conduct a series of consultations with the Visayas stakeholders including pensioners, labor and employer groups.

The new SSS monthly interest rates are 11.5 percent for commercial loans and 7.5 percent for personal loans.

The previous rates were 13.5 percent for commercial loans and 10.5 percent for personal loans.

“Under the new guidelines, employers can use the loan to acquire existing structures, expand and diversify businesses and fund projects on forest development and sustainable energy,” De Quiros said.

He said that the borrowers can also use the loan to engage on agri-business, food processing, manufacturing, services and commercial production.

The SSS also resumed the production of their Unified Multi-purpose Identification System (Umid) cards.

The agency stopped their ID production last April 2010 after their machine broke down.

De Quiros said that this caused a backlog of 607,000 pending application for identification cards.

Last month, he said that they started the production of their Umid cards but they need at least two months to finish the backlog.  Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya