BSP’s lending to SMEs hits K160 million mark

By Lemach Lavari
Bank South Pacific (BSP) has lent K160 million to 32,000 small businesses since 2013, according to the bank.
Bank’s head of Small to Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Retail Stanerd Wai told The National that a significant requirement for small businesses to secure loan from the bank was for them to have transactional history or foot prints through the banking system.
He said this on Wednesday at a PNG Apec Business Advisory Council (ABAC) event in Port Moresby.
“We want to make our products more flexible for the SME segment,” Wai said.
He said for amounts above the bank’s set threshold of K500,000 required partial or full security from customers.
Wai said apart from its branches nationwide, the bank had three SME centres in Port Moresby, Lae and Goroka.
He said the bank had developed a product called the Micro Business Loan. “Our primary customers at this stage are oil palm growers in East and West New Britain,” Wai said.
He said the bank was in close partnership with New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (NBPOL) and Hargy Oil Palm Ltd (HOPL) in West New Britain to reach growers.
The bank has is also working with farmers of SP Brewery’s cassava project and Mainland Holdings Ltd’s sorghum famers, both in Morobe.
Wai said the bank held town hall meetings and road shows that brought together stakeholders in the SME sector such as Investment Promotion Authority (IPA), Internal Revenue Commission and local level governments to educate small business owners on conduct business better.
Three main issues that are continually raised by SME owners are access to markets, lack of financial literacy and lack of protection of reserve businesses.
Wai said there needed to be cooperation between the Government and private sector to address issues faced by small businesses.