The Ministry of Fisheries has announced that the first installment of funds has been disbursed to 20 approved applicants who applied for the loan opportunity opened for those active in the reef fishing sector under the 'Kandufalhuge Nafa' loan scheme.
To develop reef fishing, the Ministry of Fisheries and the SME Development Finance Corporation (SDFC) jointly opened applications for the reef fishing loan through the Kandufalhuge Nafa program on February 16 this year. By the application deadline of April 30, 2024, 121 parties had submitted loan applications.
According to the Fisheries Ministry today, it has been decided to grant loans to 62 parties under this opportunity, and as of today, loans for 37 parties have been approved. Furthermore, the first installment of the loan has been disbursed to 20 parties.
The Ministry further stated that although 20 million Rufiyaa was initially allocated when the loan was opened, due to the high number of applicants, an additional 10 million Rufiyaa has been added. It has now been decided to disburse a total of 30 million Rufiyaa to accommodate as many applicants as possible.
The maximum loan amount to be disbursed is set at 700,000 Rufiyaa. SDFC states that if the cost of the activities for which the loan is taken exceeds 700,000 Rufiyaa under the scheme, the applicant must bear the additional expenses. Additionally, SDFC states that a grace period of up to six months will be provided, and a maximum period of 10 years will be given to repay the loan. The loan interest rate is set at 5%.
This loan is issued for building or purchasing new vessels for reef fishing, repairing and modifying existing reef fishing vessels, installing engines in reef fishing vessels, and purchasing resources required for reef fishing. Among these, SDFC has stated that the loan funds can be used to purchase fishing gear and equipment to be installed on reef fishing vessels, fish packaging machinery and equipment, and fish storage facilities and equipment.
The Fisheries Ministry met with the recipients of this loan today. The meeting was held at the Islamic Centre hall.
