Fidelity Bank plc has assured that interest on the N600 million loan, targeted at the garment and leather clusters in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, would be lower than the going commercial bank interest rate.
This development however dispels rumour making the rounds within the clusters that the proposed loan offer from the bank is coming with high interest rate and so, not favourable to them.
Ralph Okoroma, head, SME desk, Fidelity Bank, Imo and Abia region, in an interview with BusinessDay, explained that the condition for accessing the loan would be released soon.
According to him, we approved the N600 million loan for the garment and leather sectors, because from our findings, they are a very organised group.
“However, we have not released the structure on how we are going to disburse the funds. The automation of the process was just concluded yesterday, and as I speak to you, what we have is applications from people; we have not started processing credits at the moment.
“So, anybody that tells you that the facility is not favourable is not telling you the truth, because we have not even released the structure to anybody.
“One thing you must understand about lending is that if the risk is high, the interest will be high. However, the rate at which we are going to offer them the loan would be lower than the going commercial bank interest rate,” he assured.
The bank is to provide the clusters with lease intended to buy them equipment and overdraft to help them purchase raw materials. The gesture is aimed at upgrading the capacity and product quality of the operators.
GODFREY OFURUM
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