JEDDAH, 15 February 2005 — The National Commercial Bank (NCB) has launched its first Islamic financing program in the Kingdom to support free tradesmen with loans up to SR1 million.
Called “Al-Ahli program for free tradesmen”, the financing scheme was announced by Al-Sharif Khalid Al-Ghalib, head of customer management group. Asked about the target group, he said that it would cover professionals such as consultant doctors, engineers and accountants who own and manage their private activities, be they medical clinics, engineering consultancy offices or legal accounting firms. The nature of the finance is Shariah-compliant.
Al-Ghalib added that the goal of this integral financing program, which is the first of its kind in the Saudi market, is to provide a wide spectrum of financing to the small business sector. It is open to all professionals whether they are NCB clients or not.
An important advantage of the program is that it offers financing without collateral to those professionals who come under the classification. Al-Ghalib said the program is part of the bank’s effort to provide incentives for the Kingdom’s economic development, by financially supporting small businesses and thus creating an environment that is conducive to business growth.
Ibrahim Al-Buloushi, head of the bank’s Small Business Group, stated that the small business sector makes up 80 percent of the Saudi market. The bank’s support to this active sector is aimed at expanding the national economic infrastructure, providing additional support to increase sources of income and activating the economy to create more job and investment opportunities. This is because the establishments that come under this sector encompass the larger sections of Saudi society.
According to Nasser Nassif, manager of small business professionals segment, the settlement period for the financing is three years. The program also provides many banking services to establishments financed by it. They include using the loan amount to open a special account, electronic and credit services, participation in investment funds, in addition to meeting the needs of professionals to help them develop their businesses.
Nassif added that the financing program was designed to meet the needs of the target group.
It may be noted that the NCB had contributed SR200 million to the credit risk warranty fund for small businesses.