Al-Amal Bank for the poor starts in 2004 [Archives:2003/681/Local News]

Sanaa, Oct 25 – Al-Amal Bank for small-loans will commence its activities starting January 2004 according to the bank’s management. A technical committee composed of the government and private sector as well as the Gulf Program for supporting United Nation organizations agreed that the first of January should be the date for starting the activities of the bank which is expected to facilitate loans for the poor to start their own small-scale businesses to earn income.
The beneficiaries of the loans are among the very poor of the society who are able and willing to start small-scale projects in order to improve their living standards and create new sources of income for their families. The interests will be extremely low compared to regular loans and are expected to be affordable for the beneficiaries.
Foreign expertise will be helping in the management of the bank for the first three years. The capital of the bank is said to be around USD five and half million in which the government’s participation is USD 2.5 million while that of the private sector is USD one million. The remaining amount is to be provided by the Gulf Program.
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