Twenty-five businesses are behind repayments of a business loan that was issued by the Cook Islands government to support them during the 2020 Covid pandemic.
Prime Minister Mark Brown confirmed this in response to questions raised by Matavera MP Vaitoti Tupa in Parliament last week.
Brown, who is also the Minister for Finance, said there were a total of 151 loan recipients, “businesses taking out loans to keep business afloat during the period of time there were no customers on the island”.
He said the total value of the loan given out was $6.9 million(US$4.10 million) and, “this was one of the very clever things the government did to help businesses and keep the economy alive during that time”.
As a result, Brown said when borders reopened, they were able to recover quickly and the economy rebounded strongly because these businesses were kept alive during the border closure.
As of March, this year, he stated that out of 151 loan recipients, 122 have settled their accounts, while 29 loan accounts remain, with 25 of those in arrears.
Brown said the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management is working with the Bank of the Cook Islands (BCI) to follow up on these arrears and to support these businesses in making sure they can settle their final loan amounts.
In Parliament last Thursday, the Prime Minister said: “There was economic support, which was available during the shutdown of Covid and there was also economic recovery, which also helped boost and return our economy back to where it was.”
“The Business Continuity Credit Facility was one particular facility, and I believe that there were up to 29 loan accounts that were made available. “And I believe that two of those loan accounts have been settled to date and the remaining are still undergoing loan repayments.”
MP Tupa said, “This was a great assistance to our people in paying our workers. I have also made a similar question to the Prime Minister this past year, asking if these loans have been paid in terms of grants.
Source: Cook Islands News/Pacnews
