The Federal Government is offering loan facilities up to N1 billion at a nine per cent interest rate to businesses, including manufacturers, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun has said.
Edun said the step was taken because the President Bola Tinubu-led administration acknowledged the difficulty that entrepreneurs face in obtaining reasonably priced capital for their businesses.
He said small-scale entrepreneurs could access up to N1 million in credit facilities and larger enterprises up to N1 billion.
This, he indicated, was less expensive than the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) current recommendation of 26.25 per cent for commercial banks.
The minister also said the focus was on addressing food insecurity and nutrition, as well as increasing food production. He said: “Likewise, the emphasis is on helping small-scale businesses through grants and nano enterprises through grant funding. That is being rolled out, and it’s being done in a manner which, as I said before, is a world-class standard where you identify biometrically the person that is the beneficiary, and you pay them through a digital process which you can easily reconcile.”
