Helb nets Sh21bn in repaid loans after listing threat

The Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) received Sh21.5 billion by June, marking an increased compliance by former university students.

The State’s higher-education funder said the amount is from 215, 778 beneficiaries or nearly half of the total loans amounting to Sh52.1 billion that had matured by end of the 2018-19 year.

The increased payments came a month after the agency threatened to list 67, 093 beneficiaries who have defaulted since 1975 with Credit Reference Bureaus for non-compliance.

A total of 6, 055 defaulters paid their loans following the May listing threat, cutting the defaulted loans portfolio by Sh400 million to Sh6.1 billion in a month to June.

“At 30th June 2019, 436,892 loan accounts worth Sh52.1 billion had matured for repayment, while 386,091 loanees holding Sh37.3 billion had not matured. The loan portfolio is performing at 72.4 per cent,” Helb said in a statement.

This means that 221, 114 beneficiaries holding Sh30.6 billion in matured loans are yet to complete payments even as the agency steps up efforts to reduce the number of defaulters to compliment Treasury disbursements.