(MENAFN- Gulf Times) QIB has announced the implementation of its Covid-19 National Response Guarantees Programme, which follows the Amiri Decree that supports the economic and financial sectors in Qatar.
The Government of Qatar has allocated guarantees to local banks, amounting to QR3bn to help mitigate Covid-19 impact on the country's private sector.
The programme will relieve some of the most critical short-term payments that local businesses will struggle with, in the next three months, such as staff salaries and rentals.
The programme, administrated by Qatar Development Bank, is a 100% guaranteed scheme brought to the private sector by the Government of Qatar to finance staff payroll as per the Wage Protection System registry (WPS) for a period of up to three months, April to June 2020, paid on a monthly pro-rata basis.
In addition, the guarantee will cover rental amounts for factories, business outlets, warehouses and labour accommodations for the same period paid on a monthly pro-rata basis.
QIB Group CEO Bassel Gamal said, 'At QIB, we have been proactive and fully supportive of the measures implemented by the Government, the Qatar Central Bank and Qatar Development Bank to help local businesses impacted by the Covid-19 crisis. Maintaining business continuity and keeping the local economy afloat is a commitment that both the Government and Qatar Islamic Bank have undertaken.
'The preventative measures put in place to protect public health and stop the spread of the virus are having a significant impact on businesses, making it difficult for companies to meet critical short-term payments. With the National Response Guarantees Programme in place, private companies will be able to relieve some of the pressing payments that they will face in the next three months, namely staff payrolls and rents.
Companies that are 100% privately owned with a valid commercial licence that have been negatively impacted by Covid-19, except those operating in real estate, construction and contracting industries, are eligible to apply for this programme. The company must also be registered with a minimum of 10% Qatari national ownership and using QIB's WPS service to process their employee's salaries in order to qualify.
Each application will be assessed individually and a maximum financing allowance of up to QR2.5mn per month, for a period of three months, will be made available per beneficiary company. The financing allowance will be based on the actual amounts of employee salaries and rentals. QIB is offering four different financing options for impacted companies to choose the one that is best suited to their needs.
Guarantees will be issued for a period of up to three years to cover the financing of companies for a tenor period of up to two years and grace period of up to 12 months.
Actual finance tenor and grace period will be verified and agreed with each company.
Gamal said, 'With the unprecedented challenges we are all facing due to Covid-19, our first priority is the safety of our customers and employees, while ensuring business continuity. We have proactively supported Qatar's efforts to curb the spread of the virus, by raising awareness on preventative measures within the community and encouraging our customers to bank from home using our comprehensive digital channels. We also demonstrated our support to SME's during these hard times by immediately postponing financial installments and documentary credits dues.
Qatar Development Bank is administrating the Covid-19 National Response Guarantees Programme and has partnered with QIB to deliver it. The financing window will be available for just three months, starting from April 1 to June 30 - companies can only apply during this period.
In order to apply, companies must fill the finance application and sign it by all partners of the company (as per the company CR), or have it signed by the authorised signatory as per the company's board Resolution.
A complete set of documentations, which are requested in the application, must be submitted to QIB's corporate branch (Grand Hamad Street) via the dedicated drop box placed in the branch from 07.30am to 12.30pm.
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