By Chika Otuchikere
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has notified all successful applicants under the Bank’s COVID-19 Targeted Credit Facility (TCF), whose accounts have not been credited, to visit the website of NIRSAL Micro Finance Bank (www.nmfb.com.ng) and input their account details.
The CBN Director, Corporate Communications Department, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, made this known Wednesday, in a statement in which he gave assurance that all successful household and SME applicants that have submitted their account details for the facility, should expect to be credited within 48 hours.
He, however, urged any successful applicant that does not receive a credit alert within 48 hours to call mobile number: 09010026900 for resolution.
Okorafor also disclosed that the CBN had waived the requirement for the provision of guarantors by households and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) applying for its N50 billion COVID-19 Targeted Credit Facility.
According to him, the CBN’s effort was to assuage the concerns of those who had fulfilled all requirements for the loan but were yet to have their accounts credited, particularly as other persons had begun to receive credit alerts.
Okorafor reiterated that palliative being disbursed were loans and should not be taken as grants. He, therefore, urged eligible households and small businesses to take advantage of the palliative to revive their businesses and contribute to steering the country’s economy away from recession.
The CBN had on March 23, 2020, unveiled guidelines for the implementation of the N50bn Targeted Credit Facility as a stimulus package to support households and micro, small and medium enterprises affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on the CBN guidelines, those eligible beneficiaries of the fund are households with verifiable evidence of livelihood adversely impacted by COVID-19 and existing enterprises with verifiable evidence of activities adversely affected as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
