Over 74,000 sign up for fuel subsidy
A call for penalising banks that do not adhere to the regulation on providing credit to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Sultanate was made by a highranking official at a meeting here on Wednesday.
“Hefty fines should be imposed on commercial banks that do not allocate the mandatory five per cent credit to SMEs,” urged Shaikh Salah bin Hilal al Maawali, CEO, SME Development Fund. He said banks are not willing to provide loans to small companies on grounds that they are not properly managed and there is risk involved in repayments.
“Some bankers even went to the extent of saying that they prefer to be fined instead of extending loans to SMEs,” he said on the sidelines MUSCAT: The number of citizens who registered for fuel subsidy till 1 pm on Wednesday stood at 74,674 including 521 fishermen. Fuel cards were given to 9,243 through the different fuel stations selected by beneficiaries through the national subsidy website.
The registered constitute about 20 per cent of the total number of those eligible to receive subsidy (about of Oman Forum Wednesday.
The Central Bank of Oman has mandated that all banks operating in Oman allocate five per cent of their total credit portfolio to SMEs 2017 here on 376,000 as per the study on which the subsidy mechanism was based).
Statistics show that men represent 87 per cent of the number of total registered and women represent 13 per cent. The employees topped the list of those registered followed by job seekers, retirees, students, housewives and entrepreneurs. The system is scheduled to come into force starting from January. Those who following a Royal Directive in 2013.
The apex bank circular stipulates that the banking sector encourage the growth of SMEs in the country by formulating a liberal lending policy for taking cognisance of the government’s vision and the regulatory initiatives of the Central Bank in this regard.
Al Maawali said if a company that is aspiring to avail of the loan facility and found to be lacking proper management of its assets or financial accounts, the bank should come forward to assist it with a solution.
The Royal Directive stipulates the provision of a specialised mechanism in association with the Tender Board to allocate a percentage of tenders to SMEs. He said SME is a complicated sector. meet requirements to get subsidy may register at www.nss.gov.om.
They are required to fill the form and then receive the fuel subsidy card from their preferred petrol station. Then have to activate the card by following clear steps. To ensure proper registration, a call centre (24174000) is operational from 8 am to 5 pm round the week on the national fuel subsidy system.