BSP exceeded K100mil threshold for Govt SME loan: CEO

BANK South Pacific Financial Group Ltd (BSP) has funded more than K115 million under the Government-supported loan facility, the SME Credit Enhancement Scheme Loan.
The bank said more than 2,000 small to medium enterprises (SMEs) have applied for loans under the scheme.
BSP group chief executive officer Robin Fleming said BSP had continued to fund loans using its own funds under the SME loan facility despite exceeding the K100 million support funding provided by the Government.
“BSP continues to lend through the festive period to our SMEs and we are able to do this with run-offs from funded loans and by maintaining loan delinquencies within the bank’s delinquency thresholds,” he said.
Fleming said of the 2,100 SMEs that had applied for loans through the SME loan facility, over 50 per cent had been successful, with close to 30 per cent of loans in the application stage and 20 per cent had been declined through the bank’s normal credit assessment process.
“The festive period has been hectic so far with an increased number of applications coming through, and already we have over K90 million in value from applications under processing, as the numbers pick up from all around our regions and the three SME Business Centres in Lae, Goroka and Vision City in Port Moresby,” head of SME BSP Jeffrey Singer said.
Singer said BSP had exceeded the K100 million funding support threshold before year’s end with the reduction of the equity requirement from 30 per cent to 10 per cent, and a change in maximum loan amount from K3 million to K5 million, enabling more SMEs to be eligible to access the SME loan facility.
“It’s been a challenging year for our SMEs in particular, but as they say, tough times don’t last, tough people do.
“We’d like to wish all our SMEs throughout PNG a fantastic festive with a holy Christmas and a prosperous New Year 2022.”
The scheme is open to all SME owners including non-BSP customers and it does include ability to refinance existing loans.