MBABANE , Feb 8, 2012 (IPS) - Nomsa Tsabedze is one of the many people at the Bunye Betfu, Buhle Betfu Credit and Savings Cooperatives waiting to apply for a loan to pay for her children's school fees."Unlike banks, there is no collateral required before you get a loan from a cooperative," said Tsabedze, adding: "If you're a member of a cooperative, you're guaranteed a loan depending on how much you've saved." For the past five years, ever since she started working as a clerk in the public service, Tsabedze has been saving and obtaining loans from the cooperative. But while Tsabedze and thousands like her have chosen to put their money in cooperatives as opposed to banks, many in this Southern African nation feel that this poses no risk to the banking industry. This is despite concerns by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that the country's increasingly popular 230 savings and cooperatives pose a threat to commercial banks.
It's interesting how the principles of liberalism (competition is good!) so dear to the IMF are context-sensitive... It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
concerns by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) [which] said that the country's increasingly popular 230 savings and cooperatives pose a threat to commercial banks
