Cbank to give banks 150 bln rbl on wage loans to small business

MOSCOW, Mar 27 (PRIME) -- The Russian central bank will allocate up to 150 billion rubles in support of lending to small and medium business on payment of wages, the regulator said in a statement on Friday.

"The central bank… decided to adjust the terms of the new mechanism...of support of lending to small and medium business with a combined limit of 500 billion rubles. Up to 150 billion rubles in the framework of the indicated limit will be allocated to support lending to small and medium business entities with a goal of their uninterrupted fulfillment of the liability of wage payment to the employees."

The interest rate for banks is 4% and the maturity is one year. The maximal amount for each bank will be calculated basing on the amount of loan portfolios of small and medium business on wages in accordance with a program approved by the government. The interest rate of the loans to companies shall not exceed the level set by the state program within the first six months.

First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said on Thursday that the government and two largest banks Sberbank and VTB plan to launch a pilot project of interest-free loans to business to pay wages in the week starting from March 30.

(78.7223 – U.S. $1)

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