DILI, 25 january 2022 (TATOLI) – The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Culture (MoHESC) and the National Bank of Commerce of Timor-Leste (BNCTL) signed a line credit agreement called “Ensinu Superior Kualidade+”, aiming to support the private higher education institutions in Timor-Leste with an interest rate of 3% on a loan per annum.
The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Culture, Longuinhos dos Santos, said that the signing of the agreement aims to facilitate 16 private universities in improving campuses infrastructure and ensuring human resources and capacity building to fulfill all the requirements recommended by The National Agency for Academic Assessment and Accreditation (ANAAA).
“The private universities can have a loan up to US$500.000 with an interest rate of 3% per annum,” Santos said during the signing of the agreement at the Novo Turismo Hotel, in Dili, on tuesday.
Santos said after signing the agreement, private universities will be able to submit applications to the BNCTL to have the loan.
The minister also underlined that MESSK would allocate US$5 million to BNCTL to guarantee financial credit.
According to Santos, all private universities must fulfill all the requirements of BNCTL to be eligible for the loan.
At the same time, the Chief Executive Officer of BNCTL, Brígido de Sousa, said that the five million dollars would facilitate numerous universities having financial difficulties to make the payment of the loan.
“We have an agreement to apply the 3% interest rate annually as a soft loan. This soft credit had already been implemented in the Ministry of Tourism, Commerce, and Industry (MTCI),” he said.
Sousa said the universities are needed to meet all the requirements to have access to the credit.
“BNCTL will apply an interest rate of 3%, but it depends on the analysis and evaluation of the proposals of the private higher education institutions”, he added.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Rafy Belo
