KUWAIT CITY: The Government has submitted to the National Assembly a bill on dealing with the negative consequences of the coronavirus crisis.

The five article-bill allows local banks to grant loans to SMEs, while giving these banks the authority to determine the amount of loan in accordance with the credit status and potential risks of the business.

The maximum amount of loan is KD 250,000 for each SME; payable within five years while the grace period for the start of installments ranges from two to three years.

The loans will be granted to owners of SMES in batches, taking into consideration their financial commitments.

The owners of SMEs should not terminate the services of their Kuwaiti workers and they must recruit citizens according to the specified percentage. The Central Bank of Kuwait is mandated to follow up and supervise the implementation of the bill once approved.

In another development, the Speaker of the National Assembly Marzouq Al-Ghanim will on Monday invite lawmakers to the sessions slated for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

He explained the invitation will be out on Monday, instead of Sunday; because he is waiting for the parliamentary Financial Affairs Committee to complete its report on the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Bill in order to include it in the agenda for Tuesday’s session.

Disclosed

He disclosed the session on Tuesday is allocated for voting on the Public Authority of Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) and bankruptcy bills; in addition to discussing the demographic imbalance, Criminal Investigations General Department, Kuwait Airways Corporation and handicapped bills. He said the agenda for Wednesday’s session include some other draft laws, as well as the vote on the no-cooperation motion against HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid.

He added that if all the bills are tackled in the session slated for Wednesday, Thursday’s session will be the final one. In case there are remaining bills that necessitate deliberation, they will be included in the agenda of the final session. He went on to say that the MPs, who had earlier tested negative for coronavirus, underwent another test on Sunday and the results of their tests will determine those who can attend the sessions.

He revealed that he will receive on Monday a letter from Minister of Health Dr Basel Al-Sabah about the MPs who previously tested positive for coronavirus to determine who among them passed the specified period and will be able to attend the sessions safely.

Earlier, several MPs submitted a proposal to hold a special session on Tuesday to approve urgent bills; considering only a few days are left before the current parliamentary term ends. These MPs include Abdullah Al- Kandari, Muhammad Al-Dallal, Khalil Al-Saleh, Omar Al-Tabtabaie, Osama Al-Shaheen, Al-Humaidi Al- Subai’e, Riyadh Al-Adaasni, Homoud Al-Khudair and Muhammad Hadi Al- Hewailah.

According to the proposal, the urgent bills include the demographic imbalance, Criminal Investigations General Department, Kuwait Airways Corporation, audiovisual, handicapped, and criminalizing the act of normalizing relations between Kuwait and Israel.

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