PUTRAJAYA, Feb 23 — The National Education Savings Scheme (SSPN) account holders will receive an annual dividend of four per cent for 2020.

In a statement today, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad said the total dividend payout is estimated to amount to RM201.3 million, benefitting 4.82 million SSPN depositors.

The latest payout would bring the total amount of dividend paid to RM856.6 million since the scheme was introduced in 2004, she said.

"This distribution is made possible by the net return on investments made on deposits received by the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN),” she said.

Noraini said in 2020, SSPN earned an investment profit totalling RM237.42 million, an increase of RM32.14 million or 15.7 per cent higher from RM205.28 million in 2019.

"This achievement is the result of PTPTN’s efficiency in implementing short and long-term shariah-compliant investment methods in the local money market which protects the principal while providing high and positive returns or profits,” she said.

She noted that SSPN deposits rose to a record-high of RM1.99 billion last year — an increase of RM623.82 million or 45.6 per cent from RM1.37 billion in 2019 — bringing the total amount of SSPN deposits to RM7.88 billion as at Dec 31, 2020.

Noraini also added that 436,101 new SSPN accounts were opened in 2020, bringing the total number of accounts to 4.82 million since it was established. — Bernama