{"id":803,"date":"2012-01-11T03:53:47","date_gmt":"2012-01-11T03:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newspaper.ctsi-logistics.com\/?p=803"},"modified":"2012-01-11T03:53:47","modified_gmt":"2012-01-11T03:53:47","slug":"govt-employees-credit-union-seeks-500k-infusion-to-survive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/govt-employees-credit-union-seeks-500k-infusion-to-survive\/","title":{"rendered":"Govt employees’ credit union seeks $500K infusion to survive"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Moneth Deposa
\nReporter<\/div>\n

Due to a large drop in revenue, the Commonwealth Government Employees Credit Union is seeking an emergency infusion of funds in order to generate new monies for its operation.<\/p>\n

NMI Retirement Fund board chair Sixto K. Igisomar and administrator Richard Villagomez disclosed that the pension agency has been approached by the union asking for an immediate infusion of $500,000 so it could continue its lending program.<\/p>\n

Saipan Tribune learned that credit union has asked the Fund to allow it to refinance its existing loan so it could avail of the needed amount.<\/p>\n

The credit union is one of the four local investments of the pension agency.<\/p>\n

According to Villagomez, the Fund loaned the union $2 million in August 1996. He estimates that about half of the loan has been repaid.<\/p>\n

Because of the current financial state of the pension agency, Villagomez said the Fund cannot readily agree to the union’s request pending a clear analysis of how much the Fund would earn if it further invests in the union.<\/p>\n

In a Dec. 15, 2011, letter to Villagomez, credit union acting general manager Ruth Ann Sakisat said they are behind in remitting their loan payment to the Fund since September 2011 because of a significant drop in union revenue. She did not elaborate on this in her letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to request the NMIRF’s assistance in further investing with us through the refinancing of our existing loan for $2 million at a lower interest rate, possibly at 5 percent for another 30-year term with at least $500,000 of new funds for our lending program,\u201d said Sakisat.<\/p>\n

She urged the Fund’s immediate action, saying the credit union’s existence will depend on the infusion of new funds to expand its lending program.<\/p>\n

The Fund’s board of trustees discussed the union’s request during Friday’s regular meeting but put off making any decisions until all its questions are answered.<\/p>\n

Igisomar instructed Villagomez to work with the union and ask for more information. The board expects Villagomez to provide an analysis and evaluation of the union’s financial standing for discussion.<\/p>\n

Villagomez told Saipan Tribune yesterday that in order for the Fund to consider the union’s request, an analysis is needed showing how the additional $500,000 would reduce the union’s losses and how much the Fund could earn from the additional investment.<\/p>\n

For Villagomez, credit unions are only as strong as its membership, so the CGECU needs to boost its membership to survive.<\/p>\n

Sakisat declined to comment on the matter yesterday, pending a response from the Fund.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Moneth Deposa Reporter Due to a large drop in revenue, the Commonwealth Government Employees…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}