Tana Forum on Security in Africa
THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday said it has approved a 100 million dollars loan for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Sri Lanka to have more access to finance.
The loan is also to build their resilience to external shocks, such as economic crisis and climate change.
According to the ADB, Sri Lanka’s SMEs provide 45 per cent of employment and contribute 52 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the South Asian country.
“It is therefore important to provide SMEs, particularly women-led enterprises, with the necessary support to sustain and grow the sector’s contribution to the economy.’’
Through participating financial institutions, the ADB would open a 50-million-dollar line of credit for underserviced SMEs in the export, tourism, technology, agriculture, and manufacturing sectors.
It will also establish a 500,000 dollars special facility to cover guarantee subsidies for women-led SMEs.
The project would build on the government’s equity contribution through the National Credit Guarantee Institution Limited, which provided partial credit guarantees on loans to SMEs. (Xinhua/NAN)
A.
-March 18, 2024 @ 15:15 GMT|
Tags: ADB
