Damascus-Hama-Sana
The total loans granted by the Commercial Bank of Syria to borrowers within the program (Support and Financing of Small and Medium Enterprises) with subsidized interest rates amounted to two billion and 180 million Syrian pounds, since the launch of the program last August.
In a statement to SANA's reporter, the director of credit at the bank, Mazen Hamza, explained that funding has been granted to more than 10 quality small and medium projects since the launch of the program, including poultry houses, cattle farms, sheep farms and marble factories, and they are distributed over a number of governorates, indicating that all short and long-term loans are granted according to the program at a rate Subsidized interest up to about 4 percent.
Regarding the duration of the loans and the financing ratios, Hamza indicated that they are granted with multiple terms (long, medium and short) according to the type of the project, its ability to pay and the agreement between the borrower and the bank, indicating that Al-Tijari, based on the program, gave some powers to its branches to achieve more flexibility in granting loans.
SANA met a number of owners of small and medium-sized enterprises financed by the Commercial Bank with loans. Ahmed Al-Wast from Salamiyah area in the countryside of Hama, one of the expatriates who returned to Syria in 2017 for the purpose of establishing an investment project, indicated that he is one of the first investors for an integrated production project for raising cows in his area and it was covered by a law New Investment No. 8 for 2021.
Ahmed Al-Wast obtained from Al-Tijari a loan of 500 million pounds to establish his project in the first three phases, according to which he will be financed with 150 million pounds to establish cow breeding hangars. His project includes the establishment of a fodder plant and the drilling and processing of an artesian water well.
Al-Wast noted the importance of establishing new projects to support rural development and secure job opportunities and additional incomes for poor families, especially that his project provides more than 60 job opportunities, indicating that the project completion rate has reached 60 percent in terms of securing infrastructure and establishment, calling on his fellow Syrians abroad to invest. in Syria in all fields.
Ibrahim Dergham, owner of a poultry farm project on Masyaf Hama Road, and one of the borrowers within the Syrian Commercial Program, indicated in a similar statement that the bank granted him a loan with subsidized interest in the amount of 190 million Syrian pounds, knowing that the area of his project is 60 dunums and includes a section for hatching, a fodder factory, and 8 hangars for raising chickens. .
Dergham pointed to the importance of loans granted to support small and medium enterprises in light of the high costs of setting up projects and the instability of prices, indicating that this is the second loan he receives from the Syrian commercial, and he hoped to raise the loan ceiling to include equipping the facility with solar energy in light of the current energy crisis.
According to the Syrian Commercial Program, the Bank supports small and medium-sized enterprises by reducing interest at a rate of 2%, while the Local Production and Export Development Authority supports the Local Production and Exports Development Authority, according to the government program, with 7%, meaning that the projects bear a simple interest of 4 percent on the decreasing balance of the loan annually.
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