The State Bank of Pakistan on Monday announced to expand the scope of the refinance facility that was announced on March 17, 2020, titled Refinance Facility to Combat Covid-19 (RFCC), to support the hospitals and health sector for providing services to directly fight against COVID-19. The banks provide concessional loans at a maximum end-user rate of 3 percent for 5 years for hospitals and medical centers to purchase medical equipment and set up isolation wards for developing capacity and supporting the health sector in fight against COVID-19, under this scheme, said a statement. Since its inception up till July 02, 2020, Rs 6.4 billion of concessional credit have been approved for hospitals and other eligible facilities to fight COVID-19. The expansion of RFCC is allowed in view the encouraging response and the potential to help developing the health facilities in the country. The scheme now allows manufacturers of protective gears and equipment, including items such as masks, dresses, testing kits, hospital beds, ventilators etc, to avail financing under RFCC. Moreover, to cope with the rising needs of the health facilities in general in the country, SBP has allowed hospitals serving patients even other than COVID-19 to avail this facility.
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