Ayeyarwady Bank offers loans to MSMEs reeling from Cyclone Mocha

23 May 2023

DMG Newsroom
23 May 2023, Sittwe

Ayeyarwady Bank, one of the largest private banks in Myanmar, is providing loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) affected by Cyclone Mocha, which made landfall with destructive force near the Arakan State capital Sittwe on May 14.

Many businesses have applied for loans from the bank, said Daw Hay Mar San, vice chairwoman of the MSME Association Rakhine.

“The bank does not take much time to handle loan applications. I want to urge business owners from their respective townships to apply for loans,” she said.

Ayeyarwady Bank began issuing loans on Monday, after announcing its plan to provide them to MSMEs affected by the cyclone on Friday.

The bank said it would provide loans with or without collateral on a repayment period of two years; up to 10 million kyats of unsecured loans at an interest rate of 10.5 percent for the first year and 9 percent for the second year. The bank made no mention of secured loans.

DMG was unable to reach the manager of the Ayeyarwady Bank branch in Sittwe for comment.

Some business owners in Arakan State, meanwhile, told DMG that a two-year repayment period was not long enough.

A cosmetics dealer from Sittwe said: “We will need more than one year for our businesses to recover. We will be able to pay back loans only when the business recovers. So, two years is short.”

Others said they would take what they can get under challenging circumstances.

“Business owners across the state are finding it difficult to revive their businesses,” said scrap metal dealer U Kyaw Win Maung from Sittwe. “I am happy that loans are being provided for them under such circumstances, otherwise, it would be extremely hard for business owners to recover.”

Business in Arakan and Chin states, as well as Magway Region, were most affected by Cyclone Mocha.

According to junta-controlled media, 1,156,796 people were affected by Cyclone Mocha in Arakan State, with financial losses totalling nearly 4.7 billion kyats.