KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan has enhanced the limit of concessional loans by Rs 300 million for hospitals and medical centres in order to strengthen the health sector in the fight against COVID-19.
According to a press release issued today (Friday), the banks can now provide loans of up to Rs 500 million to hospitals and medical centres.
Earlier, the central bank could only provide Rs200 million to a single hospital or medical centre.
The press release stated, “So far, financing of Rs. 2.2 billion for 11 hospitals and medical centers has been approved whereas financing requests of Rs 3.6 billion for 23 hospitals and medical centers are being processed by the banks.”
“The financing under this facility is being made available by State Bank at 0 percent to banks that can charge a maximum rate of 3 percent per annum to hospitals and medical centers,” the press release said.
The State Bank informed that the decision was made under its Refinance Facility for Combating COVID -19 (RFCC). RFCC is an emergency funding facility to support hospitals/medical centers to develop their capacities for the treatment of infected patients of COVID-19.
The central bank also expressed hope that large scale facilities will be created for treating COVID-19 patients by using subsidized funding.
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