Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry’s Enterprise Sri Lanka loans to include very small businesses to improve inclusivity
The Finance Ministry of Sri Lanka has announced that it has revises the requirements for Enterprise Sri Lanka loans in order to include very small businesses and simplify the registration process to improve inclusivity.
The Finance Ministry in a statement has said that the decision had been made during discussions last week between Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and heads of Bank of Ceylon, People’s Bank and Regional Development Bank as well as other officials.
A progress report on the disbursements of loans under the Enterprise Sri Lanka programme by the three banks will also be presented to the Finance Ministry as part of efforts to improve progress monitoring.
“During the discussions, it was decided to conduct training programmes for all new entrepreneurs, district-wise, along with the Central Bank officials on how to develop a business plan prior to applying for a loan and to continue assisting them through the loan process,” the Finance Ministry statement has said.
Furthermore, a monthly progress report will be submitted to the Ministry of Finance on the disbursement of loans.
It was also decided to revise the loan facilities to accommodate very small-scale businesses and to simplify the registration of businesses through the local authority/Divisional Secretariat. The Finance Ministry, the Central Bank and the State banks have also agreed to meet once a month to discuss the progress of the Enterprise Sri Lanka programme.
OSL take:
The Sri Lankan government’s move to provide loans to small businesses in order to promote entrepreneurship in the country would result in an overall growth in the Sri Lanka’s economic growth rate. Once small scale businesses are strengthened, its benefits would expand into the media scale businesses. All this would result in the creation of a strong business force in the country. It would then provide a conducive environment for foreign businesses to form partnerships with local businesses in order to penetrate Sri Lankan economy.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/23082018/Z_2 |