Anguilla
Barbados
British Virgin Islands
Dominica
Ghana
Grenada
Guyana
Sint Maarten
St. Kitts & Nevis 
St. Lucia
St. Vincent & the
Suriname
Commercial Banking
-
-
-
-
EBS Product
Pay bills and manage your accounts easily
Cash management solutions
Welcome to the Cashless Experience
Make secure deposits and bill payments
Your business needs a way of accepting payments easily
American Express works directly with you to help navigate the evolving payment landscape.
Republic Bank’s E-Commerce Solution for companies
Featured Products
-
-
-
-
Commercial Credit Cards
-
-
-
-
Products
-
-
-
-
Investment Products
Tools & Guides
-
SME Stimulus Loan
The Government of Trinidad and Tobago (GOTT) has launched a $496M SME Stimulus Programme with the aim of supporting micro, small and medium enterprises impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Loans will be facilitated via participating Commercial Banks i.e. Republic Bank, Scotiabank, First Citizens Bank and RBC Royal Bank.
The SME Stimulus Loan is a Government guaranteed loan. In its initial Phase, the loan is granted for a maximum of 5 years with a 2-year moratorium on principal payments. The GOTT guarantees 75% of the loan and no payment is required by the customer for 2 years. The interest on the SME Stimulus Loan will be paid by the GOTT and there are no handling fees on these facilities.
Under Phase II, the loan term has increased to a maximum of 7 years with a 2-year moratorium on principal payments. The GOTT now guarantees 100% of the loan and no payment is required by the customer for 2 years. The interest on the SME Stimulus Loan will be paid by the GOTT and there are no handling fees on these facilities.
Simply click below to start the process and we will contact you within two (2) business days regarding your application.
To be eligible for the SME Stimulus Loan, an SME is required to declare, amongst other things, that they are in possession of:
- The Borrower is a person (or persons) operating a business which was in operation as of March 1, 2021;
- The Borrower has a BIR tax registration or provides a letter signed by the BIR indicating it is in the process of being duly registered;
- The Borrower is not in arrears on existing borrowing facilities with any financial institution by 120 days or more as at the Loan application date;
- The Borrower is up to date with taxes, VAT and National Insurance Scheme contributions for its employees up to December 2018;
- Borrower undertakes to settle all outstanding statutory obligations within one year of the disbursement of the facility or make appropriate arrangements with the BIR and other Statutory Authorities to settle the obligations failing which the loan must be repaid in full within two (2) years
- Consent required to allow the Bank to share the relevant information with the Ministry of Finance, Board of Inland Revenue and National Insurance Board
- Only one (1) facility in Phase II may be extended to a borrower within a borrower group.
Annual Gross Revenues between TT$0.5 million to TT$25 million and loan amounts may be granted as follows:
| Annual Revenue | Maximum allowable Loan Value |
|---|---|
| $0.5M – $5M | $150,000 |
| Over $5M – $10M | $250,000 |
| Over $10M – $15M | $375,000 |
| Over $15M – $20M | $500,000 |
| Over $20M – $25M | $600,000 |
Applicable to Phase II
- Each Borrower under a Loan Facility shall certify:
(a) It intends to continue to operate its business or to resume operations;
(b) It generates its revenues from the sales of goods or services;
(c) It is not a person or persons holding public office, or is not an entity, owned or controlled by a person or persons holding political office;
(d) It will not use the proceeds to repay other borrowings;
(e) It will not use the proceeds to repay any director/shareholder loans;
(f) It will not use the proceeds to declare a shareholder dividend;
(g) It will make best efforts to maintain employment of permanent staff as existed at March 1, 2021. - The following pre-conditions shall apply to each Loan Facility:
(a) The Borrower is a person (or persons) operating a business in Trinidad and Tobago, which was in operation as of March 1, 2021;
(b) The Borrower has a BIR tax registration and is up to date with payments or provides a letter signed by the BIR indicating it is in the process of being duly registered;
(c) The Borrower is up to date with Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) payments (that is, taxes including but not limited to Value Added Tax (VAT) ) and National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributions for its employees up to the year ended 31st December, 2018;
(d) The Borrower consents to the sharing of any information by the Lender related to BIR and National Insurance contributions with the relevant departments of the Ministry of Finance, the Board of Inland Revenue, the National Insurance Board or any other relevant authority dealing with the payment of taxes or the collection of National Insurance contributions, such consent to be in the form or substantially in the form of the Letter of Authorisation and Undertaking set out in the Fourth Schedule hereto;
(e) The Borrower is not in arrears on existing borrowing facilities with the Lender to whom it is applying for a Loan Facility by 120 days or more as at the Loan Facility application date;
(f) The Borrower undertakes to settle all outstanding statutory obligations within one (1) year of the first disbursement made under the Loan Facility or to make appropriate arrangements with the BIR and the National Insurance Board to settle the outstanding obligations failing which the loan must be repaid in full within two (2) years.
(g) Only one (1) facility in Phase 2 of the Program may be extended to a Borrower within a borrower group. For the avoidance of doubt, and without prejudice to the foregoing limitation, the fact that a facility was extended to a Borrower within a borrower group during Phase 1 of the program shall not prevent that Borrower or another borrower within the same borrower group from obtaining a facility under Phase 2 of the Program.; - Each Borrower shall covenant for the duration of a Loan Facility to provide the applicable Lender with the following:
(a) Annual Audited or Management Financial Statements for the Borrower(s), within 60 days of each fiscal year end;
(b) Semi-annual unaudited financial statements for the Borrower(s) within 60 days of the semi-annual date;
(c) Such other financial and operating statements and reports as and when the Lender may reasonably require;
(d) Financial covenants that are customary for transactions of this nature.
(e) Authorization to share its information with statutory agencies to ensure compliance with their requirements
The SME Stimulus Loan Facility is a government-sponsored loan programme of up to TT$300 million (Phase I) and TT$196 million (Phase II) to help micro, small and medium sized businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under Phase II, the Facility is open to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises operating and incorporated in Trinidad and Tobago and in operation as of March 1, 2021.
To be eligible for the Facility, an SME is required to declare, amongst other things, that they are in possession of:
- Annual Gross Revenues between TT$0.5 million to TT$25 million
- The Borrower has a BIR tax registration or provides a letter signed by the BIR indicating it is in the process of being duly registered
- The Borrower is not in arrears on existing borrowing facilities with any financial institution by 120 days or more as at the Loan application date.
- The Borrower has up to date National Insurance Scheme contributions for its employees up to 2018.
- The Borrower undertakes to settle all outstanding statutory obligations within one year of the disbursement of the facility or make appropriate arrangements with the BIR and other Statutory Authorities to settle the obligations failing which the loan must be repaid in full within two (2) years.
The business must confirm that the loan will be used solely for salary payments, working capital and purchase of raw materials.
The business can use the loan for the purpose of:
• to assist with working capital support;
• to finance salary payments;
• to purchase raw materials, goods, salaries, equipment, vehicles, and machinery, excluding vehicles for personal use;
• to purchase fixed assets, excluding purchase of residential property and financial assets/products;
• to provide additional funding on entities previously granted facilities under Phase I subject to satifying all conditions including standard credit criteria required by the participating banks. To qualify, firms must not be 120 days or more in arrears of payment on existing loans.
- Up-to-date annual audited or management financial statements, to also be submitted annually within (60) days of each fiscal year-end during the life of the loan;
- Semi-annual unaudited financial statements within (60) days of the semi-annual date;
- Financial and operating statements as required by the lending institution;
- Financial covenants that are customary for transactions of this nature;
- Borrowers must be compliant with KYC requirements
Loans under the SME Stimulus Loan Facility are available over a fixed seven (7) year term.
Businesses are not required to make repayments for the first twenty-four (24) months but will have to repay the principal in (60) sixty equal monthly principal instalments thereafter. Government will pay all interest.
Yes, prepayment is allowed without penalty.
Government will pay all interest on the loan. There is no interest cost to the borrower.
Yes. The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago will secure 100% of your loan balance.
In addition to meeting eligibility criteria, the SME must certify that:
- It intends to continue to operate its business or to resume operations;
- It generates revenues from the sales of goods and services;
- The Borrower is not a person or are not persons holding public office, or is not an entity, owned or controlled by a person or persons holding political office;
- It will not use the proceeds to repay other borrowings;
- It will not use the proceeds to repay any Director/Shareholder Loans;
- It will not use the proceeds to declare a Shareholder Dividend;
- It will make best efforts to maintain employment of permanent staff as existed at March 1, 2021.
Loans will be available from First Citizens Limited, RBC Royal Bank (T&T) Ltd, Republic Bank Ltd and Scotiabank (T&T) Ltd.
Applications for this Facility will be accepted until December 31, 2022
If you are interested in the SME Stimulus Loan Facility you should visit your financial institution’s website for more information.
