The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday announced a N50 billion credit facility for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) hard hit by Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The apex bank said the facility would be given out through the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing system for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) Microfinance Bank for the targeted beneficiaries, including but not limited to hoteliers, airline service providers and health care merchants, among others.
Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, dropped the hint at a news conference in Abuja where he rolled out the apex bank’s interventions to cushion the effects of COVID-19 on the economy.
The health industry was listed among those to benefit from the palliatives as Emefiele said in order to meet potential increase in demand for healthcare services and products, the CBN had opened, “its intervention facilities, loans to pharmaceutical companies intending to expand/open their drug manufacturing plants in Nigeria, as well as to hospital and healthcare practitioners who intend to expand/build the Health facilities to first class centres.”
This he said was in addition to growing the size of existing interventions to the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
Another palliative is the interest rate reduction on all applicable CBN intervention facilities from nine to five per cent per annum for a year effective March 1.
All CBN intervention facilities, he added, are now granted a further moratorium of one year on all principal repayments, effective March 1, 2020.
“This means that any intervention loans currently under moratorium are hereby granted additional period of one year,” he said.