The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has committed approximately Rs 10 billion to a Bank-funded COVID-19 Support Loan Scheme to assist affected SME enterprises.
This assistance would be in addition to the working capital loans scheme implemented under a credit line provided by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), the Bank said.
The Bank has obtained a short term loan of US$ 50 million from a development finance institution for this purpose, and said these loans would be provided at an annually reviewed concessionary interest rate of 8% per annum.
Intended to fund the working capital requirements of businesses affected by the shutdown necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, these loans would be available to businesses whose annual sales turnover is below Rs 750 million, the Bank said. The scheme was designed especially to help midsized SME enterprises that missed out on the benefits of the CBSL supported ‘Saubhagya Covid-19 Renaissance Facility.’
“Applications for financial assistance continue to flow in, and we have to support as many of them as possible,” Commercial Bank Managing Director S. Renganathan said. “The pressure on businesses and economies is universal, but it is at times like these that banks can display leadership and show what they are truly made of. We will continue to look at new options and avenues to help businesses survive this crisis.”
The Bank will provide loans of Rs 2 million to Rs 25 million to eligible businesses under this new scheme, and has identified several sectors for priority. Furthermore, the Bank said women-connected businesses, export-related businesses, and agriculture-related businesses have been earmarked as priority segments under the scheme.
The sectors identified under this scheme are Food & Beverage, Herbal & Medicinal Products, IT & Software Development, Spices & Processed Spices, Textile & Garments including health-based protective products, Rubber-based Products and innovative Light Engineering products. When applying for the loan, the Equity Contribution rate of the borrower should be at least 10% of the proposed requirement. Borrowers can repay loans within 36 months, based on the cash-flow generation of their businesses.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) affected by the pandemic and Commercial Bank’s BIZ club members who have registered business entities will be eligible to apply for a support loan. Applications of subsidiaries and associates of any group of companies, and businesses with credit exposure exceeding Rs 250 million, including the proposed facility, will not qualify, the Bank said. The Bank, one of the largest lenders to the SME sector has been offering financial support services to businesses in order to soften the blow of the economic effects that COVID-19 has imposed. In May, the Bank announced a reduction of lending rates across the board for new loans, leases, pawning and overdraft facilities.
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