Hon STUART NASH (Minister of Revenue): The Government took decisive and considered action to support small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inland Revenue advised me that almost 100,000 small businesses have applied for an interest-free loan, totalling more than $1.6 billion. Around 81 percent of the loans have gone to small and medium businesses with one to five staff, and around 11 percent of applicants have six to 10 staff. Interestingly, 61 percent of loans have gone to mature or longstanding firms that are at least five years old. Only around 6 percent of loans have gone to new firms that are less than one year old. As the economy starts to open up and recover, many businesses have begun repaying their loans. Around 3,500 small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have repaid almost $15 million so far. The interest-free loans are a cheap source of working capital for firms that find themselves in a tough spot. They have proven to be a popular and fast way to access capital for viable but vulnerable small businesses.