MASLOC fails to recover over GH¢291.5m loan disbursed over past 12 years

The Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) is yet to recover over GH¢291. 5 million disbursed as loans to small and mi­cro businesses over the past 12 years.

The amount is part of the GH¢304,345,925 advanced to the beneficiary businesses from the peri­od 2008 to 2020.

Of the amount, GH¢206,464,960.74 was given out as cash loans; GH¢27,033.51 went into a poultry project; GH¢74,206,593.01 was invested in vehicles; tractor acquisition took GH¢2,308,970.00; GH¢20,909,282.17 was loaned out for the purchase of tricycles while the PINCO project took about GH¢429,085.16.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer of MASLOC, Paul Sarbeng, appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Ac­cra, said the outstanding loan had become a legacy debt which MASLOC was determined to retrieve.

In this regard, he noted that the management was implementing a programme of action which was aimed at recovering the funds from the borrowers.

“Mr Chairman, these outstanding loans stem from 2008 to 2020. It’s an amount the centre is determined to collect and we are working on it."

“We developed a programme of action that resulted in the initial collection of GH¢11.4 million. We further made recovery amounting to GH¢1.4 million. The programme is yielding results and we hope to do more in the coming weeks,” he stated.

Currently, Mr Sarbeng noted that MASLOC had about 55 per cent loan recovery rate, adding that the outbreak of COVID impacted negatively on businesses, hence their inability to pay back loans borrowed.

Unimpressed by the slow rate in recovery, the members of PAC ex­pressed worry about the inability of MASLOC to recover the outstanding loans and the use of their funds.

Chairman of PAC, Dr James Klu­tse Avedzi, said the amount retrieved so far was insignificant as compared to the uncollected loans.

“You have collected only about four per cent of the total amount and that cannot be a job well done. This shows that MASLOC is not doing close to the recovery rate you told us.

“It is also a clear example that MASLOC is in trouble and you have no funds to operate or meet your mandate,” Dr Avedzi stated.

He directed the management of MASLOC to submit to the com­mittee an annual breakdown of the outstanding loans to guide its recom­mendations.