Monrovia – The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning along with GN Bank, BRAC Liberia and Business Link Incorporated have signed a four million loan to enable local businesses to recover from the post Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) shock on the economy.
Report by J.H. Webster Clayeh – [email protected]
At the signing ceremony over the weekend at the Ministry of Finance; BRAC Liberia was represented by the Managing Director Tapan Kumar Karmaker, GN Bank was represented by the Deputy Managing Director for Operation Kweku Bio and the Business Link was represented by their Managing Director Madam Beatrice Dennis.
Giving remarks, GN Bank Deputy Managing Director for Operation said they from the GN Bank are going to used their network to go to every corner in Liberia so that those who need the loan benefit from it.
Bio added: “What we would say is that these loans are supposed to be paid back. So, please when they are distributed; customers need to pay back so that other people will come and benefit.”
The Managing Director of BRAC Liberia was pleased that after a long discussion they had finally come to a conclusion. Karmaker furthered that the micro finance of BRAC Liberia will distribute the loan to the micro-entrepreneurs through their presence in seven counties in Liberia.
Karmaker continued by saying: “So, all these counties in the rural areas and people who are affected by Ebola, we are trying with our own funding but this will help us to expand the coverage and help more people get access to finance.”
For his part, the Minister of Finance Boima Kamara said the impact EVD had on the economy, and the extent to which it affected small businesses, most especially those doing cross-border business, was the underlying factor that drew the need to request the loan from the World Bank.
Minister Kamara added that in terms of fast tracking the recovery of the economy; making finance available will help many small businesses in the country.
He said the loan exercise will not be Monrovia based but will be spread across the entire country.
Although the loan scheme according to the Minister will help small businesses in the country; loans at the Ministry of Finance have gone through a difficult situation with many loan recipients disappearing without any trace under the PSDI scheme.
But when quizzed by journalists at the signing ceremony, Minister Kamara promised: “The processes that are put in place will be fully executed to the letter”.
Unlike the PSDI loan scheme; Kamara stressed that the Ministry will not be involved in the process of distributing the loans adding that BRAC Liberia, Business Link and GN Bank will execute the process to the fullest.
He said: “In terms of who qualifies, who meets the standard; the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, the Government will not determine who benefits.”