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11 loans out so far from SSBCI program
The Commonwealth Development Authority disclosed yesterday that 11 loans totaling some $2.17 million have been approved to date for the State Small Business Credit Initiative.
According to CDA loan manager Oscar Camacho, these 11 loans have all been approved to date.
The U.S. Treasury has divided into three tranches the $13.2 million allocated for the CNMI’s SSBCI program. Eighty percent of the first $4 million batch of funds was targeted to be spent by June this year.
“…We are at 29 percent of SSBCI support from the first tranche,” Camacho told Saipan Tribune.
The CNMI had until June to deploy 80 percent of its initial disbursement by the U.S. Treasury. Otherwise, the entire $13.2 million for the CNMI might not be available.
However, Office of the Governor press secretary Ivan Blanco disclosed this week that the U.S. Treasury has agreed to extend or to qualify the CNMI to go for the second tranche even if the CNMI did not meet this 80 percent mark.
According to Camacho, City Trust Bank and Bank of Guam are the only two banks active in the program.
“Those two banks are the ones that have already deployed some loans,” he said.
Other participants are the Bank of Federated States of Micronesia, Bridge Capital LLC, and Independence Bank.
City Trust Bank and Bank of Guam deferred to CDA when asked for more information.
