By MIRIAM MALAWA
MORE than 700 small to medium enterprises in the country have benefited from the initial K80 million to the National Development Bank, Minister for State Enterprises William Duma says.
Minister Duma made these remarks during a presentation of K40 million cheque to NDB by the Department of Commerce and Industry.
He explained that NDB disbursed MSME loans at a 4% rate in November, 2021 with an overwhelming success.
Duma said: “When the government took office in 2019, we wanted to introduce policies to empower the people. One of the policies is to making available cheaper and affordable finance for struggling SMEs so the government introduce policy by allocating K200mil in the 2020 budget. From that amount, K100mill was allocated to BSP, K20mil to Department of Commerce and the balance of K80mil was given to NDB and it was made available in late 2020, and accessed by 2021 after an MOU was signed.”
Duma added that the funding covered a widespread of industries which included transport, agriculture, tourism, retail, equipment and the food industry as well as consultancy and legal services.
The minister thanked the Marape/Rosso Government for funding the MSME Grant Facility which has had a very positive impact on the lives of ordinary Papua New Guineans.
He also commended the NDB board and management for properly managing and disbursing the K80mil.
Duma said he is confident that they will do the same with the K40mil.
“I can assure the people that NDB is made up of credible people who lead the board which is led by the chairman and credible management led by the CEO. That money will be put to good use and in less than a years’ time you will see a lot of difference especially in the SME area,” he said.
He challenged people to take heed and make an effort to make a difference in their lives by making using of the funds at NDB.
