Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the default rate for loans from the Micro-Small and Medium Entity Credit Guarantee Scheme undertaken by the Reserve Bank of Fiji is very low.
Responding to a question from SODLEPA MP Ro Filipe Tuisawau, who asked for an update on the review of the program, Sayed-Khaiyum said the program was a success.
He says that so far only 30 companies have defaulted and the exposure amount is only $0.32 million.
According to the minister, under this program, the government has guaranteed the amount of the outstanding principal on delinquent loans, which are available to all MSMEs with a turnover of up to $1.25 million per year.
Sayed-Khaiyum says that as of January this year, a total of 264 MSMEs with $11.3 million in loans were covered by the program, with the default rate remaining low.
He adds that the government, under the COVID-19 Recovery Guarantee Scheme in the National Budget 2021-2022, through RBF, has made available $200 million through the COVID-19 Recovery Credit Guarantee Scheme for help businesses.
“The loan guarantee for micro-enterprises, we guarantee up to 90% of those who borrow $10,000 or less, we guarantee up to 85% of those who borrow $20,000 or less, we guarantee 80% of those who borrow $50,000 or less and we guarantee 75% of those who borrow $100,000 or less.
He says the government pays the interest rate for this business for the first two years.
He adds that SMEs have a two-year window of opportunity to grow their business and be able to stand on their feet before they can start repaying their loans.
Sayed-Khaiyum says that since the beginning of this month, 5,471 loan applications have been approved for an amount of $114.7 million.
To live
To agree
- 95.4 FM
- Suva, Nadi, Lautoka, Labasa
- 95.2 FM
- Sigatoka, Ba
- 95.6 FM
- Tavua
- 95.8 FM
- Rakiraki
To live
To agree
- 102.6 FM
- Suva, Nadi, Lautoka, Labasa
- 102.4 FM
- Sigatoka, Ba
- 102.8 FM
- Tavua
- 103.0 FM
- Rakiraki
To live
To agree
- 97.8 FM
- Suva, Nadi, Lautoka, Labasa
- 97.6 FM
- Sigatoka, Ba
- 98.0 FM
- Tavua
- 98.2 FM
- Rakiraki
To live
To agree
- 93.0 FM
- Suva, Nadi, Lautoka, Labasa
- 92.8 FM
- Sigatoka, Ba
- 93.2 FM
- Tavua
- 93.4 FM
- Rakiraki
To live
To agree
- 100.2 FM
- Suva, Nadi, Lautoka, Labasa
- 100.0 FM
- Sigatoka, Ba
- 100.4FM
- Tavua
- 100.6 FM
- Rakiraki
To live
To agree
- 105.0 FM
- Suva, Nadi, Lautoka, Labasa
- 104.8 FM
- Sigatoka, Ba
- 105.2 FM
- Tavua
- 105.4 FM
- Rakiraki
Comments are closed.