Rs2bn disbursed in Faisalabad under Refinance Scheme: Chief Manager SBP

FAISALABAD: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Chief Manager Sarfaraz Ahmad Nadeem on Monday said that Rs. 2 billion had been disbursed so far in 53 cases of Faisalabad under Refinance Scheme of SBP to discourage layoffs due to current coronavirus crisis.

A Help Desk (HD) had also been established in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) to expedite cases under process in addition to resolve their other bank related problems, he added.

Addressing a function before formally inaugurating SBP Help Desk in FCCI here, he expressed satisfaction over close liaison and working relationship between FCCI and SBP and said that business community was already facing financial crisis even before the coronavirus.

“State Bank of Pakistan immediately responded to the pandemic and announced a workable refinance scheme for industrial, commercial and services sectors in order to retain their employees for three months from April to June instead of kicking them out during the period of corona lockdown”, he added.

Spelling out salient features of this scheme, he told that interest rate for filer was only three percent while it was five percent in case of non-filers.

Similarly the collateral was forty percent which was increased to fifty percent in order to facilitate the SME sector.

He told that period of this scheme was also enhanced for another three months due to prolonged lockdown.

He said that the commercial banks had been assigned duty to process and disburse this loan.

“Many cases have already been processed while a large number of these are still in the pipeline”, he added.

He said that applicants for refinance scheme may contact the Help Desk to expedite the processing of their cases.

Similar help desks would also be established in Sialkot and Multan for convenience of the applicants belonging to these areas, he added.

He disclosed that Reza Baqir, Governor State Bank, would have an exclusive zoom meeting with FCCI members to resolve their issues of imminent nature.

The governor would also personally visit Faisalabad and have a dinner with local businessmen.

The Chief Manager gave a patient hearing to number of policy related issues and requested to submit to same in writing so that practical action could be initiated on it by the relevant quarters.

Earlier Rana Muhammad Sikandar Azam Khan President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry thanked Governor SBP for establishing first help desk of its nature in FCCI.

“Governor also proved his commitment to Pakistan by taking immediate and prudent policy decisions”, he said and added that the governor also remained in touch with stake holders to further fine tune the refinance scheme.

Later, Rana Sikandar Azam Khan along with Sarfraz Ahmad Nadeem formally inaugurated the SBP Help Desk by cutting ribbon.