It would be hard to describe the results of the government-backed loan guarantee scheme as anything but an abject failure. After all, only R13.6bn out of R200bn available has been disbursed to local businesses under the loan plan designed to help the private sector through the Covid crisis. We asked Banking Association SA (Basa) MD Bongiwe Kunene why the results have so far been so dismal.

BK: I’d say that the low disbursements are a function of many issues, the first [of these] is the behaviour of business. What drives businesses when looking for loans is confidence, and that there’s demand for the goods and services they offer...

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