Kenya’s National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has paid an interest of 10% on retirement savings in the year ended June 30, 2021, up from 7% a year earlier, Business Daily newspaper reported.

The interest payout, considered the largest on the retirement savings in seven years, comes from a 237% rise in net investment income to 32.3 billion Shillings ($267.72 million), supported by dividends from Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firms.

NSSF returns have beaten the average inflation of 5.34 percent for the period. In 2014, the fund paid a 12.5% interest rate.

The report said the fund had invested 152.9 billion Shillings in government bonds, up from 124.2 billion Shillings last year. On the other hand, the value of quoted securities grew to 66.6 billion Shillings from 52.5 billion Shillings.

(Editing by Cleofe Maceda; cleofe.maceda@lseg.com)