5,244 businesses assisted under the COVID-19 Recovery Credit Guarantee Scheme so far

The Reserve Bank of Fiji has so far approved 5,244 loan applications worth $106.9 million under the COVID-19 Recovery Credit Guarantee Scheme.

Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says in addition to this the financial institutions are currently processing another 64 applications with a total value of $3.4 million.

Sayed-Khaiyum says government has so far paid $1.3 million in interest cost.

He says there were 2,509 applications for micro-enterprises, 1,648 applications for small businesses, 652 applications for medium businesses and 435 applications for large businesses.

$200 million was allocated for this scheme in the 2021/2022 National Budget.

This is a recovery scheme for MSMEs and also large businesses to assist them to meet their financial needs and recover from economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Existing micro businesses with turnover less than $50,000 are eligible for a maximum loan funding of $10,000.

Small businesses with an annual turnover of $50,000 to $300,000 are eligible for a maximum loan funding of $20,000, while medium-sized businesses with annual turnover of $300,000 to $1.25 million are eligible for a maximum loan of $50,000.