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The Stanbic Bank has written off about GH₡150,000 loans owed by 14 victims of the Kantamanto Market fire outbreak in Accra. The traders who are customers of the Stanbic Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Quick Loans were also given GH�1000 each for their upkeep. At a ceremony in Accra, the Chief Executive of Stanbic Bank, Mr Alhassan Andani, said the traders were covered by an insurance component of 0.756 per cent of the loan that catered for misfortunes such as flood and fire. The fire burnt property worth millions of cedis at Kantamanto Market on Sunday, May 5, 2013. Most of the traders who spoke to the Daily Graphic after the fire outbreak at the market indicated that they took loans from banks to invest in their businesses. Mr Andani said the Stanbic Bank remained committed to helping its customers in such disasters. He explained that the SME Quick Loan was an unsecured lending product that had no collateral and also supported customers to grow their businesses. �Over 5,000 traders all over the country have benefited from the product since it was launched in March 2012,� he said. Mrs Joana Kwateng, a beneficiary of the written-off loans, said she took a loan of GH₡25,000 not long before the fire outbreak, adding �I did not know how I was going to pay that debt�. On behalf of the traders, the General Secretary of the Ghana Union of Traders Association, Mr Alpha Shaban, expressed his gratitude to the Stanbic Bank for the offer. The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, also commended Stanbic Bank for its resolve to support the traders. He urged traders and small-scale businesses to take advantage of opportunities offered by financial institutions that offer such interventions, adding �it helps to stay in and sustain business�.