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Cheap loans for businesses to foster development of exports

By M. Alkhazashvili
Tuesday, January 8
In November, Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze announced a ‘cheap credit bank’ project that will provide long-term low-interest loans to Georgians setting up businesses. The prime minister says the bank, which is scheduled to launch in spring, should help stimulate the economy and increase exports, as well as help tackle Georgia’s unemployment problem.

The Ministry of Economic Development is overseeing a cheap loan program aimed at the export industry. Some GEL 25 million in low-interest loans will be given to small and medium enterprises who exported more than ten percent, but less than 75 percent, of their total production in 2007, according to the newspaper Versia. To qualify for a loan, the company must be exporting products valued at more than GEL 100 000. The maximum loan a company can receive is GEL 2.5 million and annual interest is capped at ten percent.