SME stimulus loan disbursement from next week

The disbursement of stimulus package worth Tk 200 crore among the Cottage, Micro, Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (CMSMEs) will start from next week, said Md Mafizur Rahman, managing director of Small and Medium Enterprises Foundation on Saturday.

He also said the celling of loan disbursement had been revised to Tk 50 lakh from Tk 75 lakh to increase the number of loan facilitators under the package. Debtors were to pay through 24 schemes with the banks and financial institutions concerned.

Mafizur Rahman said this while addressing a view exchange programme with representatives of chambers, associations and organisations of entrepreneurs on Saturday.

The programme was organised by the SME Foundation through a virtual platform.

He said the foundation had decided to distribute the money with a 4 per cent interest rate through 13 banks and financial institutions to the entrepreneurs for running their businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The newly allocated money of the stimulus package would be disbursed within December this year, Mafizur said.

The entrepreneurs, who were deprived of loans under the first stimulus package of the government, as well as women entrepreneurs, enlisted members of SME sub-sector, trade bodies and groups in remote and rural areas, would get priority in the loan allocation system, he added.

The SME Foundation would monitor the whole process of loan disbursement to ensure allocation to real entrepreneurs, said foundation MD.

“The designated banks have asked to provide a checklist of loan-related necessary documents and to inform the authorities concerned within five working days as per the policy of the foundation.”

He mentioned that the foundation had set a target to disburse 10 per cent of the loan amount to SME cluster entrepreneurs, 30 per cent to trading sector-based entrepreneurs and 70 per cent to manufacturing and service sector-oriented entrepreneurs.

The SME Foundation had decided to disburse at least 30 per cent of the loans to women entrepreneurs to help them overcome the Covid-19 fallout, said Mafizur further said.