THEBE MABANGA
THE government’s R200 billion Loan Guarantee Scheme, introduced last year to help small businesses to weather the storm of COVID-19 crisis, will be revamped in a bid to help the scheme reach more businesses.
This was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament on Thursday, but may prove too late for businesses that have closed during the pandemic.
The scheme was introduced in May last year and in his speech, Ramaphosa announced that around R18.9 billion in loans have been approved for 13,000 businesses.
This represents less than 10% of the overall amount and the scheme has been criticised.
“Demand for the scheme remains significantly below the original expectations,” the Banking Association said earlier this month.
“Participating banks expect applications for the scheme to slow-down further in the coming months.”
The scheme has been criticised for benefiting companies who would
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