More than 2,600 Small and Medium Entrepreneurs were given assistance by BSP. This was mentioned by the BSP General Manager for Retail, Daniel Faunt in a statement.
He said many had applied for BSP’s Credit Enhancement Scheme Loan (CESL) since its commencement in 4th October 2020.
“To date (February 2023), we have funded over K332m in SME Credit Enhancement Scheme Loans assisting 2,640 SMEs”, he said
“Equity requirement was reduced from 30% to 10% with an increase of funding from K3m to K5m in May of 2021, that allowed for greater participation from the SME sector in this scheme,” Faunt added.
In 2022, 1,699 SMEs were given assistance through BSP’s CESL totalling up to K310 Million in loans.
BSP Head of SME, Samuel Mulina said that “Apart from the government funded Credit Enhancement Loan Scheme, BSP has been offering its own SME Lending Products since 2013; Smart Business Loan, Micro Business Loan (Agriculture), Term Business Loan (Working Capital), and Overdrafts.”
Mulina explained that despite exceeding the annual K100m support funding provided by the National Government, the SME Retail Lending team continue to fund loans under BSP’s SME CESL.
He also made mention that the SME Retail Lending team will continue to assist local businesses expand, generate more revenue and enable more job opportunities through driving the SME sector.
In August 2020, the PNG Government committed to allocate K200 million for loans to assist SMEs in the country, especially in the struggle of recovering from the global pandemic.The fund was split between Bank South Pacific (BSP), the National Development bank (NDB) and the Department of Commerce and industry. BSP got 50 percent, NDB got 40 percent leaving the Department of Commerce and Industry with 10 percent to be loaned out to struggling SMEs at a competitive rate.
