Thukten Zangpo 

The National Credit Guarantee Scheme (NCGS) has disbursed Nu 492.01 million (M) to 145 projects that employed 1,207 (916 regular and 291 casual workers) since October 5 last year.

The production and manufacturing sector saw the highest number of approved projects at 73, followed by 43 in agriculture, and 29 in services spreading across 16 Dzongkhags. Of the total, 30 projects are commercially operational.

NCGS’s Director, Sonam Penjor, said that one of the milestones met was 19 projects (production and manufacturing, and service sectors) operating commercially, without having to complete the gestation period.

Forty-six projects are approved under the Bhutan Development Bank Limited (BDBL), 54 under Bank of Bhutan Limited (BoBL), and 45 under the National Cottage and Small Industries Development Bank Limited (NCSIDBL).

Of the total loan amount disbursed by the participating banks, Nu 119.95M was sanctioned by the BDBL, Nu 274.52M by the BoBL, and Nu 97.54M by the NCSIDBL.

Sonam Penjor said that the projects will help in filling the economic gap in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.

“The country’s economy has to gradually move towards the production and manufacturing sector with its advancement from the agriculture sector and with sophisticated technology towards the service sector, “he added.

Sonam Penjor said that there were no non-performing loans from the projects and there has been a constant increase in the number of the projects.

With a total of Nu 492.02M loan sanctioned, the government’s guaranteed coverage stands at Nu 314.73M, and bank guarantees at Nu 98.50M.

The NCGS has targeted more than 200 projects in three years, and there has been a total of 13,000 queries since the NCGS was launched.

Edited by Jigme Wangchuk