Loan facility back for manufacturers

The Department of Trade and Industry
(dti) has reopened the R1billion loan
component of its Manufacturing
Competitiveness Enhancement
Programme (MCEP) – an incentive
programme created to support local
production – while it continues to lobby
the National Treasury for additional
support for the
manufacturing sector
through sector-specific
incentives.
This was announced
by the Minister of
Trade and Industry,
Dr Rob Davies, at an
Ekhurhuleni Chamber
of Commerce and
Industry event last week.
He pointed out that the
production incentive
grant remained
suspended pending
the allocation of new
funding by National Treasury.
The MCEP programme was initially
allocated R5 billion, with R1bn for the
loan facility and R4bn for the production
incentive grant but was suspended in
October last year due to a lack of funds.
Deputy directory-general for incentive
administration and development,
Malebo Mabitje-Thompson, told FTW
that funds had been replenished through
loan repayments, highlighting that
there was about R500 million available
immediately and that there were
already some 20 known loan applicants.
Davies added that the dti “continued
to seek additional resources for the
MCEP”, but that he
did not want to raise
expectations in light
of the current heavy
demands on the budget.
There were
expectations that the
loan facility of the
MCEP would be revived
in April this year but
that did not pan out due
to a lack of funds.
“For South Africa
to address its everwidening
import/export
deficit and continue
to compete on the global trade stage,
it has to support manufacturing and
production – and government has to
step up and do more to help businesses
achieve improved production,” said
Dean Macpherson, Democratic Alliance
shadow deputy minister of trade and
industry.
INSERT & CAPTION
The production
incentive grant
remains suspended
pending the allocation
of new funding by
National Treasury.
– Rob Davies