Doha: The Qatar Development Bank (QDB) has started implementing the financial benefits to be extended to small and mediums enterprises (SMEs) as part of the government’s safeguard programme for such companies that are affected due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 in Qatar.
In line with the decision of the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management (to combat COVID-19) QDB has been directed to postpone the installments of all borrowers for a period of six months. QDB has announced to implement the repayment programme of loans and other details.
As part of the implementation of the ‘National Safeguards Program in Response’ to the implications of COVID-19, the QDB has posted a series of infographs on its official twitter handle highlighting the key details of the programme, such as the grace period (0-6 months) for the repayment of loans (for a period of 3 years) and the interest/profit rates (1.5 percent) on the credit granted by QDB to various Qatari companies, including SMEs.
QDB, the state-backed development agency, covers profits/interest on loans on behalf of the beneficiary. QDB has said that if the loan amount is paid in seven to 12 months period by the beneficiary, the payment will be made against the original loan amount only (principal amount). The interest/profits ratio is estimated at the Qatar Central Bank’s lending rate plus 1 percent service charge.
For loans for a repayment period of more than one year, QDB will cover 1.5 percent of the profit/interest ratio on behalf of the beneficiary. The beneficiary for this period shall bear the difference in the interest/profits ratio between the above-mentioned percentages.
And for the loans with a payment period of two years, the interest/profits ratio is estimated at the Qatar Central Bank lending rate plus 2 percent service charge. The beneficiary shall bear the full interest/profits ratio for the period.
The QDB will administer the programme and issue special guarantees to banks operating in the country for financing companies. The programme includes companies that are fully owned by the private sector.
The programee includes the provision of guarantees to banks to finance the wages of workers in private companies and rents for a period of 3 months.
The programme duration is 3 years, which includes one year as a grace period.
The profit/interest ratio during the first half of the grace period is fully covered by QDB. And QDB has also announced that there are no fees or commissions to apply for this programme.
There are only few steps to avail the benefits extended by the government under the National Safeguards Program in Response’ against the COVID-19.
The application will have to be submitted through the concerned bank with which the company deals and pays the salaries of its employees or workers through it.
The concerned bank will review the application and send it to the QDB through its online platform.
And then the QDB will review the application and issue the required collateral. And then the concerned bank will disburse the facilities to the beneficiary.
The bank in which the main company account is registered is the bank that contains the wage protection system account of the company in question.
The beneficiary company may be required to provide additional documents before disbursing the installment of funds for the following month.
