In implementation of King Mohammed VI’s instructions to make the banking system conducive to development and to lower the rate of interest on loans within the framework of the integrated program of support and financing of SMEs, it has been decided that the interest rate will not exceed 2%. The Monarch told the officials that the current banking interest rate was high and insisted that the very vocation of this program, its broad ambition and the fact that it mainly targets SMEs and young project-holders require a significant reduction in these rates. King Mohammed VI expressed the wish that the interest rate to be applied to SMEs, beneficiaries of the integrated program, should not exceed 2%, so that this program reaches its goals, and that it positively impacts the targeted populations and categories. Actually, part of the integrated program of support and financing of SMEs, the 2020 Appropriation Bill provided for the setting up of “the Fund to support entrepreneurship financing”. The $6 million fund, spanning over 3 years, is financed equally by the State and the banking sector, explained the minister.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 29, 2020 17:03 UTC