Damascus-SANA
The new law for the creation of microfinance banks contributed to the diversification and expansion of the list of banking products and services provided by the National Bank for Microfinance to owners of small and micro projects, employees of the public and private sectors, and categories of the laid-off, the injured and the families of martyrs.
The CEO of the National Bank for Microfinance, Munir Haroun, confirmed in an interview with SANA reporter that the bank aspires in its vision for the current year to provide financing solutions for the industrial sector, as it decided to raise the ceiling of small loans it grants to 30 million Syrian pounds, in line with the decision issued by the Bank. The Central Bank of Syria recently raised the loan ceilings and linked them to the capital of each bank.
In an indication of the bank's increasing developmental role, especially after its transformation into a microfinance bank, the total number of loans granted by it in the first month alone of this year exceeded the threshold of 1,255 loans, compared to 881 loans in the same period last year, according to Haroun. He pointed out that the interest ranges between 2 and 20 percent annually, depending on the financing objectives, and in equal monthly installments over repayment periods of up to 10 years.
Haroun pointed out that the bank was able to diversify the portfolio of guarantees required to grant loans, to include “personal guarantors, mortgage of real estate, gold jewelry or cars, and a life and anti-default insurance policy,” noting that the bank grants loans starting from 250 thousand pounds for productive, educational, agricultural and immediate purposes, and provides Loans directed to the demobilized, such as the “Watani” loan, “Watani Plus” and “Jarih wa Tant”, and there is a “Omarha” loan to restore the traditional markets in the governorates of Aleppo and Homs, at a preferential interest rate of 5 percent annually.
The bank recently provided an opportunity for students to obtain a “laptop” suitable for study or work with high specifications and a competitive price, through an “educational plus” loan with monthly installments of either 78 thousand pounds or 143 thousand pounds over five years, according to Haroun, who also indicated that the bank offers to On the loan side, the services of opening current and savings accounts and the term deposit.
The immediate loan, which the bank began granting in 2021, is also met with great demand by employees, especially since it is granted without guarantors, provided that a salary statement is submitted and financing amounting to one million Syrian pounds, as the total number to date has reached 11,057 loans with a volume exceeding 8 billion and 800 million pounds. Syrian.
With the aim of providing greater guarantees for loans, Haroun indicated that the bank had previously signed a cooperation agreement with the Loan Risk Guarantee Corporation, according to which the institution guarantees loans granted by the bank to small and micro projects that do not have sufficient guarantees, and signed a cooperation agreement with the Syrian General Insurance Corporation. According to which the institution issues guarantees for limited income loans that do not exceed 5 million pounds, through a “life insurance and against default” policy.
The bank continues to work to simplify procedures, according to Haroun, as it signed several agreements with the “Al-Haram” and “Al-Fouad” remittance companies and the “MTN” company, to facilitate the immediate payment of monthly installments, through the centers of these companies spread in the governorates, and to facilitate the electronic payment process. For customers with the bank through the “MTN” Cash Mobile application.
It is noteworthy that the National Microfinance Corporation was established in 2011 through the partnership of the Syrian Trust for Development with the Syrian Scientific Society for Informatics and the General Authority for Employment and Enterprise Development, with a capital of 330 million Syrian pounds and with the support of the Secretariat. Its capital amounted to ten billion pounds at the end of the year 2020, and in implementation of the text of Law No. 8 of 2021. The institution has agreed to operate under the name of the National Bank for Microfinance, and its capital has been raised to 33 billion pounds.
Wassim Al-Adawi
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