Emerging reports have claimed that the federal government has started mapping out plans to start the distribution of N10 billion as Trader Moni loan to petty traders and artisans in the 2020 fiscal year.
The loan is part of the social intervention programmes under President Muhammadu Buhari led administration.
The reports further claimed that the N10 billion was allocated to BOI as ‘Grants to BOI to support low interest loan to SMEs’. This was contained in the 2020 Appropriation Bill signed into law on Monday by the President.
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The government, through the Bank of Industry (BOI) provides interest free and collateral free loan to petty traders and artisans, under the Trader Moni micro credit scheme. The loan ranges from N10, 000 to N100,000 per beneficiary.
According to the Trader Moni guidelines, the first loan to an individual is N10,000. Upon payment of the first loan, the individual qualifies for a higher amount. The maximum amount allowed is N100,000.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government is said to have also planned to spend N2 billion for the operations of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) operations. This however represents 50 percent decline when compared to the N4 billion allocated for same purpose in the 2019 Appropriation Bill (Budget 2019).
Earlier, The Herald reported that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said feedback from the field and testimonies indicate that the TraderMoni and MarketMoni beneficiaries are doing very well and are paying back their loans.
Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement in Abuja, said the vice president had an interaction with newsmen after his assessment visit to markets in Keffi and Masaka towns of Nasarawa State where the TraderMoni and MarketMoni schemes are being disbursed to traders.
The vice president urged beneficiaries of the loan schemes to continue to pay back their loans so they could get more money and become very successful in businessess
According to him, “It is going very well; and I am excited to hear the testimonies of the traders who have done so well after getting their first loan.
“It is also exciting to see that they have repaid their loans very quickly, because as you pay back, you are able to get more; when you get N10, 000, and you pay back, you get N15, 000 and it gets to N20, 000, when you repay, all the way to N100, 000, and it is so exciting to see that these traders are doing so well.”