Out of the N100 billion credit intervention meant for the healthcare industry, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disbursed N10.5billion to cushion the impact of the Coronavirus on the sector.
This was disclosed by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, in Abuja at the end of the MPC 273rd meeting held virtually.
According to the CBN boss, the apex bank had stipulated the requirements to access the funds. Part of it is that a corporate entity must submit its application to a participating financial institution (PFI) which could be either a Deposit Money Bank or a Development Finance Institution of its choice with a bankable business plan.
The guidelines stated that the PFI must appraise and conduct due diligence on the application; and upon approval by the PFI’s credit committee, the application would be submitted to the apex bank with relevant documents attached.
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The CBN would process and disburse funds to the PFI for onward release to the project. It stated that the PFI must receive and review applications submitted by its customers; undertake due diligence based on normal business considerations, and bear the credit risk.
They must also issue offer letters and forward qualified applications to the CBN; disburse the released funds to successful applicants; monitor the project and recover the loans from the beneficiaries, and maintain adequate records of all beneficiaries and facilities.
Emefiele said, “The committee recognised that under the N100bn healthcare sector intervention fund, the bank has approved and disbursed N10.15bn for some projects for the establishment of advanced diagnostic and health centres and the expansion of some pharmaceutical plants for essential drugs and intravenous fluids.”
