The government of El Salvador plans to offer small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) $10 million in crypto-based loans as of the first quarter of 2022.
Acumen, a Solana-based lending and borrowing platform, will provide U.S. dollar funding to El Salvador’s National Commission for Micro and Small Enterprises (Conamype), a government entity that plans to allocate financing to local informal entrepreneurs and self-employed workers, Conamype’s president Paul Steiner told CoinDesk.
Acumen’s loans will have an annual interest rate of 6% to 7%, although it could reach up to 10%, Acumen’s project manager Andrea Gómez told CoinDesk.
According to Steiner, 86% of the companies in El Salvador operate in the informal sector and do not have access to banking services. Of that percentage, 98% rely on unregistered lenders offering loans at annual interest rates of 2,300%, on average, he added.
“They are loan sharks charging between 20% and 25% per month. That is what we want to avoid,” Steiner said.
According to Steiner, the government has been in talks with Acumen since October 2021, following the…
