*Mr. Godwin Emefiele, CBN Governor
The N100nillion credit support provided to the health sector by the Central of Nigeria of Nigeria (CBN) as part of measures to address the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), pandemic on the Nigerian economy, according to the CBN will operate till 2030.
The top lender disclosed this in the guidelines for the scheme where it stated as follows: “The exit date of this intervention is December 31, 2030.” The guidelines also revealed that borrowers under the scheme will enjoy five per cent interest rate till February 28, 2021, after which the interest rate will be reversed to nine per cent.
Explaining the objectives of the fund, the CBN said that, “The broad objectives of the scheme include: reduction of health tourism to conserve foreign exchange; providing long-term, low cost finance for healthcare infrastructure development that would lead to the evolvement of world-class healthcare facilities in the country; improving access to affordable credit by indigenous pharmaceutical companies to expand their operations and comply with the World Health Organization’s Good Manufacturing Practices (WHO GMP); and supporting the provision of shared services through one-stop healthcare solution to enhance competition and reduce the cost of healthcare delivery in the country.”