Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) Member of Parliament Diederik Vries raised concerns regarding payroll deductions for civil servants, questioning safeguards, financial risks, and the impact of switching to bank debit orders.

The Minister of Finance, Erica Shafudah, responded to the concern, stating that payroll deductions ensured repayments, but high interest rates remain a major issue.

She further stated that the government is addressing this through a new microcredit bill.

"I wish to indicate that the World Payroll deductions provided repayment certainty. They also created, as has been disputed, some preferential access for deduction quotes in an environment of competition. Therefore, what we are considering is that since there is a payment system that has been established, we are exploring the possibilities for people to make use of NAM PAY, which is called NAM PAY Enhanced Debt Order, which will allow their repayments to the creditors to be affected through that mechanism."

The minister highlighted the burden of exorbitant rates, stating, "What is really harming our civil servants—and the public in general—when borrowing from microlenders is the high interest rates. This is what we are now addressing in the microcredit bill, so we can at least look into interest rates under the usual act, which is quite high and is really what is hurting our people who borrow from microlenders."

As of June 2025, Namibia had 893 registered microlenders targeting civil servants and other employees, Shafudah noted.