CRDB cuts loan interest rates to 14pc in new plan

Dar es Salaam. CRDB Bank Plc announced yesterday that it was cutting interest rates on its loans to employees to 14 percent.

The bank’s director of Retail Banking, Boma Raballa, said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the reduction in interest rates on personal loans applies to employees from both the public and private sectors.

Before that, the bank had announced on May 11, 2018, that it had cut its lending rate from 22 to 17 percent. Then, a few days later, it also cut its interest rate on personal loans further - to 16 percent.

Yesterday’s announcement gives clients for the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange-listed lender a further two percent relief in interest rates.

A further cut is projected under a self-promotion programme dubbed ‘Jiachie Utakavyo’.

“Jiachie Utakavyo means that employees now have a wider scope in their loan proposals. They can acquire loans cheaply - and on a long time basis,” he said.

He also said that, apart from giving employees the freedom to spend the cash on their preferred project, the bank also offers its customers freedom on the repayment period, depending on their preference(s).

“You have the freedom to choose the loan repayment period. It could be one year, two years, three years - anything up to seven years. The annual interest rates on loans will also range between 14 and 16 percent,” he said.

Employees were at liberty to take personal loans of up to Sh100 million at a go.

According to the bank’s head of Consumer Banking, Mr Stephen Adili, the move reflects CRDB’s recognition of the role of employees in Tanzania’s economic development endeavors.

A senior CRDB manager (Personal Banking), Ms Farida Hamza, said customers were at liberty to use the loans on activities that matter most to them, including paying school fees, upgrading their own academic qualifications, boosting their personal businesses’ working capital, etc.

“These loans are not meant for CRDB Bank clients only; they are for any and all employees,” she stressed.