Ministry of Economic Development (MED) announces that small and medium businesses will be able to apply for the MVR 50million SME loan scheme starting from Sunday, 25th March.
The SME loan scheme is included in the state’s budget every year. The loan application form is available from the Ministry and six business centres.
The Ministry held a press conference on 22nd March, in which the Business Centre Corporation Ltd’s Managing Director, Ahmed Mumthaz stated that the loan scheme is open for eight industries.
“The government introduced SME loan scheme to develop small and medium enterprises. We have a specific system to monitor the use of the loans issued under the loan scheme” Mumthaz further stated.
He also added that the repayment period for the SME loan scheme is nine years, with a grace period of one year. The interest for the loan scheme is six percent.
SME loans are open for Tourism Industry along with Transport, Construction, Fisheries and Agriculture, Corporative Society and Waste Management. In addition to this, companies can apply for the SME loan scheme under the Open Category as well.
Equity is not a requirement for the SME loan scheme. Mumthaz stated that the Ministry will issue MVR 500,000 as loans for Individuals and MVR 1.5 Million for Businesses, Corporative Societies and Partnerships.
The state has issued numerous loans in the past four years, including GetSet, SME and ‘Faseyha Madhadhu’ loan in addition to the Women’s Loans.
