More Mortgage, vehicle loans

He stated that this was the bank’s way of spreading its lending risk through diversifying the sectors in which they lend.

The financial report states that the bank recorded a 6.1 percent increase in the number of motor vehicle loans approved for the current year. These were valued at E44.3 million for both private and business car loans. “In the previous year the bank financed vehicles worth E40.4 million, reflecting an increase of 9.7 percent in value despite the decline in the number of units. The total Motor Vehicle portfolio stood at E109.3 million in 2006/7, a decline of 21.9 percent compared with the end of the previous financial year,” reads the statement. Matsebula stated that since introducing this portfolio, the bank has been receiving great response from the public and making quite a reasonable income. He said the bank was satisfied that the portfolio had taken a better balance in terms of new and second hand vehicles, and that the portfolio was also better secured because of the civil service scheme. Matsebula further stated that the bank engaged on diversification in terms of lending portfolio, to compete in all segments of the property market.

This saw the bank increasing the value of portfolio lending in mortgage loans.

“In terms of value, the Housing loans portfolio is now dominated by loans granted to the general public, with most lending going to title deed land. In the past, the portfolio has been dominated by loans granted under the Civil Service Housing Loans Scheme, which has, at the highest contributed more than 90 percent of loans in this sector. While the number of loans to civil servants has continued to increase, the pace has slowed down, curtailed by a low ceiling on individual loans,” he said.

Source :
http://www.observer.org.sz/main.php?id=38738&section=Business