As the impact of COVID-19 eats deep into the fabric of the society, the Central Bank of Nigeria has announced that the disbursement of the first batch of N50bn targeted credit facility would begin on Thursday.
With over 80,000 application already received, the fund, which is being managed by the NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, is coming in the wake of the call by Nigerian for the Federal Government to provide palliatives for the teeming public.
The Managing Director, NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, Mr Abubakar Kure, confirmed the move by the apex bank.
The MD of NIRSAL, although did not disclose the amount to be disbursed in the first tranche, he said that successful applications would start receiving their fund on Thursday.
He said:
But we are hopeful that towards Thursday or Friday, the disbursement of the fund would commence.
The CBN, in March, introduced the N50bn Targeted Credit Facility as a stimulus package to support households and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The N50bn intervention is being financed from the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund.
In terms of limit, further findings revealed that the loan amount would be determined based on the activity, cash flow and industry size of the beneficiary, subject to a maximum of N25m for SMEs.
The initiative suggested that households can access a maximum of N3m while working capital would be a maximum of 25 per cent of the average of the previous three years’ annual turnover.
Households with verifiable evidence of livelihood adversely impacted by COVID-19; existing enterprises with verifiable evidence of business activities adversely affected as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and enterprises with bankable plans, are those that can benefit from the fund, according to the CBN guideline.
The guidelines also revealed that activities covered under the scheme include agricultural value chain; hospitality (accommodation and food services); health (pharmaceuticals and medical supplies); and airline service providers.
Others including manufacturing/value addition; trading and any other income-generating activities as may be prescribed by the CBN.
