TL 50 billion Nefes Kredisi works out to TL 250,000 per branch

The latest TL 50 billion tranche of Nefes Kredisi, implemented through cooperation between TOBB and the Credit Guarantee Fund, became the target of criticism over insufficient limits and additional costs within its very first week. In this tranche of the program, which has reached a total of TL 176 billion across 5 separate packages over the past two years, the maximum limit per company had been announced as TL 5 million.

However, the picture reflected in the field is different. Even if the TL 50 billion were distributed equally among the approximately 6,550 domestic branches of the 8 banks included in the package (Ziraat Bankası, Halkbank, VakıfBank, Garanti BBVA, Yapı Kredi, DenizBank, QNB and Ziraat Katılım), an average of TL 7.63 million per branch would have to be allocated. Yet under KGF's Equity Guarantee Program, 7 percent of the total volume, that is approximately TL 3.5 billion, is blocked; when the deduction of loans that fell into default in previous periods is added, the net limit remaining for standard branches drops to a range of TL 250,000 to TL 1 million.

Şeref Fayat, President of the TOBB Ready-to-Wear and Apparel Industry Assembly, said that when they inquired at a public bank branch in Güneşli, they learned that a total limit of TL 1 million had been allocated to the branch. Fayat stated that although "a maximum limit of TL 5 million per company was announced," because the total money reaching the branch does not exceed this figure, a mid-sized business does not consider it worth applying and dealing with paperwork. Emphasizing that the total size should be at least TL 200 billion, Fayat drew attention to the fact that on the cost side, the annual 1.5 percent KGF commission on a 36-month term pushes the total cost into the 37-39 percent band.

İlker Önel, President of the Istanbul Merchants Club, stated that in the field limits of between TL 250,000 and TL 500,000 per branch are being defined and that this is enough for at most 1-2 customers. Sait Salıcı, President of the Footwear Sub-Industry Association, said that companies that benefited from previous packages are shut out of the new package because of the TL 5 million completion limit, and that the accessible TL 500,000-750,000 band does not even cover rent, energy or personnel expenses.