The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has extended the number of beneficiaries under the Agri-Business Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) loans to 14,638 applicants.

In a communique from a recent MPC meeting of CBN, the apex bank disclosed that 250 small businesses, predominantly the youths, have also benefited from the Creative Industry Financing Initiative.

In addition to these initiatives, the CBN is set to contribute over N1.8 trillion of the total sum of N2.30 trillion needed for the Federal Government’s 1-year Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), through its various financing interventions using the channels of Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs).

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Recall that a few months ago, the CBN announced that it has unveiled a framework that would integrate a non-interest window in all its intervention programmes aimed at supporting businesses and households that have been impacted negatively by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CBN, in the communique, also disclosed that it has disbursed a total of N3.5 trillion in interventions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as of September 22, 2020. In the breakdown of the disbursement, AGSMEIS got N54.66 billion, while the Creative Industry Financing Initiative got N2.93 billion. While the Real Sector Funds was pegged at N216.87 billion, Targeted Credit Facility is N73.69 billion and Pharmaceutical and Health Care Support Fund put at N44.47 billion.

The communique also reveals that in terms of project distribution, a total of 128 projects that comprise 87 real sector and 41 health-related projects have been funded.