Steering Committee Meeting: COVID-19 Special Loan Steering Comm. held meeting

The COVID-19 Special Loan Steering Committee Meeting (1/2025) was held at the conference hall of the Internal Revenue Department, Office No. (46), Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday.

The Chairman of the Steering Committee, Union Minister for Planning and Revenue Dr. Kan Zaw, attended the meeting and delivered opening remarks.

In his opening address, Steering Committee Chairman Union Minister Dr. Kan Zaw stated that, with the approval of the Central Committee for the Prevention, Control and Treatment of COVID-19 and the Union Government, a total fund of 239.917 billion kyat from the National Natural Disaster Management Fund was allocated to provide loans to large-scale enterprises affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. These included state-owned economic enterprises, citizen-owned organizations operating in partnership with the State, and major citizen-owned businesses that contribute to national economic development. The purpose of the loans was to enable businesses to resume normal operations and support economic recovery.

Accordingly, with the approval of the Central Committee for the Prevention, Control and Treatment of COVID-19, the “COVID-19 Special Loan Steering Committee and the Loan Scrutiny and Supervisory Team” were formed, and loan disbursements were carried out after scrutiny.

He further noted that loans from the COVID-19 Special Loan Fund were also disbursed to the aviation sector as well as the sunflower and oilseed crop sectors. Among the recipients, some departments and enterprises have fully repaid their loans, while some are currently repaying both principal and interest. However, certain businesses have not yet reached the maturity date for repayment.

Therefore, the meeting was convened to review and record the status of loan disbursements, collections, and business progress under the COVID-19 Special Loan Fund, and to conduct an impact analysis of these measures.

Subsequently, the Committee Secretary Managing Director of the Myanmar Economic Bank explained the establishment of the COVID-19 Special Loan Fund accounts, the implementation status of loan-related measures, loan disbursements, and the practice of submitting reports to the Union Government meeting every six months.

Afterwards, members of the Steering Committee discussed and reviewed matters related to loan disbursements from the COVID-19 Special Loan Fund, as well as continued coordination and communication with loan-recipient enterprises to ensure timely repayment when loans reach maturity. The meeting concluded with closing remarks delivered by the Steering Committee Chairman, the Union Minister, it’s learnt.