The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced the disbursement of N498 million to healthcare projects in a Monetary Policy Committee communiqué.
The disbursement, according to the publication, was part of the bank’s effort to support a resilient healthcare sector.
The two (2) projects receiving a total of N498.00 million are part of the Healthcare Sector Intervention Facility (HSIF), which has received a total disbursement of N108.85 billion for 118 healthcare projects.
“As part of its effort to support the resilience of the healthcare sector, the Bank also disbursed 498.00 million to two (2) healthcare projects under the Healthcare Sector Intervention Facility (HSIF), bringing the total disbursements to 108.85 billion for 118 projects,” according to the communique.
Furthermore, the communique states that the CBN has received 224 applications for real sector projects totaling $294.91 billion in various sectors of the economy, including healthcare. Following the processing of applications, the first batch of beneficiaries under the intervention will be announced on January 31, 2022, with their names published in national dailies.
The Healthcare Sector Intervention Facility (HSIF) is an Apex bank credit support for the healthcare sector. As part of the measures to mitigate the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on the economy, the bank launched the scheme, which is a N100 billion credit support intervention for the sector.
Following the implementation of this intervention, the bank issued operational guidelines for credit support to the healthcare sector for indigenous pharmaceutical companies and healthcare practitioners seeking to build or expand capacity.
The Scheme is expected to increase private and public investment in the healthcare sector, as well as facilitate improvements in healthcare delivery while reducing medical tourism in order to conserve foreign exchange.
