Coronavirus: SMEs to pay 5% interest on GH¢600m stimulus package

Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) who benefit from the GH¢600 million are required to pay a 5% interest, the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) has stated.

The entity, mandated by government to disburse the soft loan, said businesses will have a three-year period to pay back the loan.

Earlier, Executive Director for the NBSSI, Kosi Yankeh-Ayeh, announced the introduction of an online portal for small scale businesses to file their application for the loans

She emphasized that businesses must obtain Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) before they can benefit from the GH¢600 million stimulus package.

Speaking in an interview with 3News she said, “No TIN numbers, No stimulus.”

Kossi Yankey assured that her outfit will be transparent with external auditors in place to audit the funds, hence no need to entertain fear of introducing partisan politics into the allocation.

Meanwhile, the amount earmarked by government is meant to ease the pressure on them posed by the COVID-19.