Photo: Oil palm growing at Dabua village in Umi-Atzera LLG, Markham Valley, Morobe
According to James Marape, his government has made lending facilities available to SMEs through Bank South Pacific (BSP) and the National Development Bank (NDB).
He said that the projected Credit Guarantee Corporation of PNG has yet to be established as a result of this.
In Parliament, PM Marape stated this in response to a question from Yangoru-Saussia MP, Hon. Richard Maru discusses whether the government will be able to support the corporation before the April 2022 elections.
The Prime Minister stated that his government had not yet begun work on the corporation, which would work directly with the Bank of PNG, but that this did not mean that it was unimportant.
His government, he claimed, had a similar policy that involved direct interaction with lending institutions.
“The BSP programme has been working well and, for the second year in a row, we’ve given another K100 million,” PM Marape said.
“They (BSP) have been lending money, not just the K100 million-plus that we’ve given, but added that they’ve been able to provide.
“SMEs have been lining up at BSP trying to access credit facilities.
“I would point all SMEs out there in search of credit facilities to BSP.
“We’re working with BSP and NDB so that the collateral and lending requirements are softened to ensure ease of access of these credit funds we made available for our SMEs.”
Reference: PM James Marape News Page (23 February 2022). “PM Marape says SME funding available at BSP and NDB”.
