Micro Lending Programme
- Altum
- Loans to businesses
- Micro Lending Programme
Micro Lending Programme
Overall objective of the Micro Lending Programme is to improve access to micro loans to micro enterprises (up to 10 employees) and self employed persons (individuals – economic operators) for setup and development of business activities.
Also business start ups are eligible for support.
Main activities of the programme involve granting micro loans and allocating grants.
Micro loans:
- Purpose: loans are intended for the implementation of business plans – both for investments and working capital.
- Volume: up to 10 000 LVL (for working capital loans - up to 5 000 LVL).
- Loan currency: LVL.
- Interest rate: – fixed: 5% to 8% per annum; floating: BOR + 0 to 3% per annum.
- Loan maturity – up to 5 years.
- Self-financing limit – 0% to loans up to 5 000 LVL; at least 10% to loans from 5 000 to 10 000 LVL.
- Collateral – private guarantee of the beneficiary.
Restrictions:
The loans are not eligible for enterprises in difficulties (legal proceedings/ insolvency proceedings, tax debts, the debtor entries in the registers).
Folowing sectors and activities are excluded:
- real estate, enterprises dealing with gambling, manufacturing of weapons, tobacco and alcohol, insurance and financial brokering as well as fisheries and aquaculture.
Grants:
Borrowers, who have complied with all loan agreement terms and provisions and successfully implemented their business plan, will have access to a grant for loan redemption in amount of 50% of loan amount issued but:
1) no more than 500 LVL for the business plans being implemented in the republican cities (Daugavpils, Riga, Jelgava, Jurmala, Liepaja , Rezekne, Valmiera, Ventspils) as well as surrounding municipalities of Rīga (Adazi, Babites, Carnikava, Garkalne, Ikšķile, Kekava, Marupes, Olaine, Ropazu Salaspils, Stopinu counties), and
2) no more than 750 LVL for the business plans being implemented in the other municipalities of Latvia.
The total budget of the programme is approximately 5 mln. LVL, including for micro loans - 4.6 mln. LVL (80% financed by the Swiss Government and 20% - Hipoteku banka), grants - 0.4 mln. LVL (financed by the Swiss government).
The program will run for 4 years - until July 2015. It is envisaged that under the programme up to 650 micro-loans will be granted.
