In a bid to maintain its goal of playing active role in the sustainable development efforts aimed at eradicating poverty in the land through government policy of financial inclusion designed to meet the financial needs of the poor and lift them out of poverty, the Umuchinemere Pro-credit Micro Finance Bank (UPMFB), Enugu, said it disbursed the sum of N267,927,300 to 1,125 active poor beneficiaries in the first quarter of 2019. This is an improvement of N3.6 million from the amount it granted in the preceding year.
Head of the bank’s Credit Department, Mr. Charles Udeani, disclosed this in a press release issued by the bank’s Public/Media Relations Unit.
Comparatively, UPMFB gave a total of N264,319,400 to 1,001 beneficiaries within a similar period in 2018, a shortfall of N3,607,900 from the total amount of N267,927,300 it granted in the first quarter of the current financial year, as well as a difference of 124 beneficiaries, which generally is a remarkable improvement in the bank’s performance in meeting the financial needs of the active poor people in the present year.
The record is an indication that the bank is stepping up efforts toward meeting its goal of poverty eradication, which is a part of the reason for its establishment by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Enugu in 1995.
Of the beneficiaries of the N267,927,300 disbursed in the first quarter of 2019, 660 of were males who received a total of N111,393,300, while the rest, 465 females, received the sum of N156,534,000.
Udeani decried the prevalence of worrisome cases of multiple borrowing which the bank has been able to identify through credit bureau searches. This he said was coupled with the unwillingness of applicants to supply needed appropriate information for proper documentation, which were sometimes intentional with the ultimate aim of evading recovering effort as many borrowers already have the mindset of not repaying loans after disbursement.”