The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN recently announced that the Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) for households and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) would be increased from N150 billion to N300 billion.
This comes after the central bank announced that the TCF had disbursed a total of N149.21 billion to SMEs and households across the country.
According to reports, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, made the announcement at a virtual seminar for finance editors and correspondents held simultaneously in Lagos and Abuja.
Emefiele, who was represented by, Edward Lametek, CBN Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, said the CBN was set out to alleviate the plight of households and business enterprises who had been adversely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic while also promoting economic growth during this time.
Furthermore, in the statement delivered by Lametek, Emefiele stated;
“We initially created a N150bn Targeted Credit Facility for affected households and small and medium enterprises through the NIRSAL Microfinance Bank. Already, N149.21bn has been disbursed to 316,869 beneficiaries.
“Given the resounding success of this programme and its positive impact on output growth, we have decided to double this fund to about N300bn, in order to accommodate many more beneficiaries and boost consumer expenditure which should positively stimulate the economy.”
Key Highlights
- CBN launched the Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) in April 2020 as a stimulus package to assist households and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
- The TCF was developed to alleviate the detrimental impact of COVID-19 on households and MSMEs, as well as to help households and MSMEs whose economic activities have been seriously affected by the pandemic, and to enable MSMEs to increase their productive potential by equipment improvements and R&D.