Women have been able to access loans in excess of $200M for the first year, with over 1,000 benefitting from the micro-credit funds through the Ministry of Human, Services and Social Security’s Women of Worth (WOW) single parent facility, according to Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon.
Since the launch of the programme in June 2010, single parent mothers have been accessing financing which ranged from $100,000 to $250,000 to start a business, a report from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said.
The loans, which attracted interest at the rate of six percent per annum, have a repayment period of 24 months.
Dr. Luncheon, while addressing media operatives at a post-media briefing Wednesday, is quoted as saying that “Cabinet noted the first anniversary of the launching of this initiative where central government through the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and the commercial banks arranged a microcredit scheme which targeted the vulnerable sections in society.”
He also lauded the subject Minister Priya Manickchand for her efforts, since the launch of the programme which focuses on enabling single parents to access loans and this has been seen as a significant way of uplifting single parents economically, GINA said.
Applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 60 years, earning less than $40,000 monthly and must be registered with the Ministry’s Security Single Parent Registry.
