Marcos: SSS loan interest rate to go down by July

Metro Manila, Philippines - The interest rates for loans in the Social Security System (SSS) will go down beginning July, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on Thursday May 1.

The president said from 10 percent, the interest rate of the SSS salary loans will decrease to 8 percent while that of calamity loans will go down to 7 percent.

“Ang mga miyembro na may malinis na record ay makakakuha ng loans sa SSS sa mas mababang interes,” Marcos said at the job fair in Pasay City.

[Translation: Members with a clean record could get SSS loans with lower interest rates.]

Meanwhile, the chief executive said widows would benefit from the expanded Pension Loan Program beginning September.

Under the expanded program, widows of pensioners may borrow up to P150,000 from SSS.

The SSS, Marcos said, is having talks with financial institutions about creating a micro-credit loan facility, which would respond to urgent financial needs.

“Ang mga programang ito ng SSS ay hindi lamang para sa mga manggagawang narito sa Pilipinas kundi ang mga miyembrong nasa ibang bansa,” he said.

[Translation: These SSS programs are not for workers in the Philippines only, but also for members working abroad.]

For Labor Day, the government held a nationwide job fair which offered more than 200,000 opportunities.