Forty –seven percent of small and medium enterprises did not qualify for the government’s guaranteed loan programme due to their failure to satisfy various statutory requirements.
Minister of Finance, Colm Imbert, made the disclosure while speaking at a virtual news briefing held by the Ministry Monday afternoon.
The arrangement was put in place by the government during the COVID-19 period last year.
The purpose of the loan was to help these enterprises cover operational expenditure.
Minister Imbert said in implementing the programme the banks recognised several applicants were having difficulty in moving from the application stage to the disbursement stage of the venture.
The Finance Minister said sixteen percent of the applicants could not meet the minimum debt service requirements.
Minister Imbert said the ministry did a review of the programme with the Central Bank and other stakeholders to find out more of the challenges encountered and revised arrangements have been put in place to ensure the entrepreneurs benefit from the venture.
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