CBN Disburses N97.5bn Fund For Healthcare Intervention

The Central Bank of Nigeria said it has disbursed N97.4bn out of the N100bn credit intervention for the healthcare industry.

It disclosed this in the communique issued after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting saying the intervention was introduced as part of its measures to cushion the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy.

“Under the N100bn Healthcare Support Intervention fund, N97.4bn has been disbursed for 91 health care projects, of which 26 are pharmaceutical and 65 hospital services,” it said.

It also added that N232.5m had been disbursed to five beneficiaries under the CBN Health Care Grant for Research on COVID-19 and Lassa fever.

The apex bank had earlier stipulated the requirements for accessing the funds saying, “To access the loans, a corporate entity must submit its application to a participating financial institution, which could be either a deposit money bank or a development finance institution of its choice with a bankable business plan, according to the guidelines.”

It said the PFI must appraise and conduct due diligence on the application, adding that upon approval by the PFI’s credit committee, the application would be submitted to the apex bank with relevant documents attached.

The CBN would process and disburse funds to the PFI for onward release to the project adding that the PFI must receive and review applications submitted by its customers; undertake due diligence based on normal business considerations; and bear the credit risk.

“They must also issue offer letters and forward qualified applications to the CBN; disburse the released funds to successful applicants; monitor the project and recover the loans from the beneficiaries; and maintain adequate records of all beneficiaries and facilities.

“The PFIs must also register all movable assets with the National Collateral Registry; forward periodic returns in the prescribed format on the scheme to the CBN; comply with the guidelines; and carry out any other duties as the CBN may prescribe from time to time”, the apex bank noted