Banks approved total credit facilities worth Rs 4.27 billion for financing projects of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Mauritius under the SME Financing Scheme from December 1, 2011 to November 30, 2014.
Of this amount, Rs 1.86 billion is in the form of loans, Rs 1.66 billion in the form of overdrafts, Rs 206.72 million in the form of lease finance while Rs 541.98 million appeared under the category of ‘other financing’, according to data provided by the Bank of Mauritius, December 22, 2014.
Overall, banks received 3,249 applications amounting to Rs 5.39 billion for credit facilities under the SME Financing Scheme, of which 166 applications amounting to Rs 356.02 million were rejected.
Furthermore, the amount outstanding at the end of October 2014 amounted to Rs 1.63 billion with Rs 955.90 million for loans, Rs 492.09 million for overdrafts, Rs 114.44 million for lease finance; and finally, Rs 69.04 million under ‘other financing’.
According to the central bank data, the three banks that received most of the applications were once again all local banks namely Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd (MCB), State Bank of Mauritius Ltd (SBM) and Mauritius Post and Cooperative Bank Ltd (MPCB).
MCB was a clear leader with 1,528 applications of Rs 2.82 billion received and only 26 applications for Rs 48.12 million rejected while SBM came second with 799 applications to the tune of Rs 862.90 million received, of which 40 applications for Rs 54.01 million were dismissed.
Rounding up the top three, MPCB came far behind the two major banks with 225 applications received for Rs 376.75 million and 48 applications dismissed for a total amount of Rs 119.54 million.
Under Budget 2011, bank support to SMEs was enhanced with schemes for provision for new overdrafts and bank loans as well as renewal of existing ones.
For this year, with Budget 2015 around the corner, it remains to be seen how the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme will fare.
Image: cclscorp
More business news on AfricaMoney
Facebook Comments