By RONALD TOITO’ONA
The Solomon Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF) has declared a 4% crediting rate to its members for the 2023-24 financial year – 2 per cent down from last year’s 6%.
A total of $128,726,582 will be paid to its over 248,000 members starting today.
The announcement was made by Finance Minister Manasseh Sogavare, during a ceremony held this afternoon at the Heritage Park Hotel in Honiara.
“I have the pleasure to officially announce a crediting rate of 4% for our members for the financial year ending 30th, June, 2024,” Sogavare told guests.
“A total interest of $128,726,582 will be credited to your accounts as from 30th September 2024,” he added.
The Finance minister said the SINPF Board had met earlier in the morning to consider the 2024 annual crediting rate and had approved an award for its members that will be applied to their retirement account balances on 30 June 2024 and credited to their accounts on 30 September 2024.
Sogavare said the past 5 years has been quite a challenging period for the country’s national economy and the Fund.
“We have lived through the challenges of protecting our citizens against the COVID-19 pandemic, the November 2021 riots and the external impact of the Ukraine war.
“We took on these challenges and with the hosting of the November 2023 Pacific Games, brought back our economy to positive territory, enabling your government to build a strong foundation for our future economic growth.”
Presenting the financial performance report for the year ending 30th June 2024, Michael Wate, the General Manager of the SINPF stated that the Fund’s draft financial performance softened in the year by recording a gross income of $ 252,225,456.
“This is down from last financial year audited gross income of $354,658,863,” Wate explained.
“The reduction was primarily driven by the reduction of our listed and unlisted equity fair value revaluation gains from $147,340,381 recorded in 2023 to $35,841,902 recorded in the 2024 financial year,” he added.
“You may recall that all our traded market listed equity prices and the international currencies they are denominated in, are revalued on their market traded prices on 30 June of each year.
“For our unlisted domestic equities, unlisted international equities and domestic investment properties, these are also revalued annually by external international and national independent competent valuers.
“For our unlisted equities (South Pacific Oil Limited, Solomon Telekom Company Ltd, Heritage Park Hotel Ltd etc.) are valued by international accounting firm Deloittes based out of Australia.
“After adjusting for operating and member expenses of $108,804,837, the Fund has an operating surplus of $143,420,619 that is available for crediting to members today.”
The SINPF Board Deputy Chairman, Riley Mesepitu, announced that the fund achieved a net operating gain of $143.42 million, reflecting the effectiveness of the board’s strategies and the dedication of the team despite economic challenges.
“For the credit rate declaration consideration this morning, my board, guided by our commitment to safeguarding the interests of our members, as well as being mindful of the economic headwinds facing our nation, has undertaken a meticulous evaluation of the fund’s financial performance,” Mesepitu said.
“After careful deliberation and thorough analysis of the fund’s investment returns and after deducting for all board and operation costs, boards investment objectives, the reserving requirement of the fund’s code of conduct, and the minimum of 2.5% credit rate as specified in Section 8 of the NPF act, we are pleased to consider a reasonable rate,” he added.
Mesepitu said the 4% interest rate reflects a prudent optimism and the underlying strength of the fund against future uncertainties while the country navigates these challenging times together.
