The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$165 million loan to Sri Lanka to provide immediate financing support for small and medium-enterprises (SMEs), which have been severely affected by COVID-19, and long-term financing to underserved SMEs, including businesses led by women and tea smallholders.
COVID-19 has gravely hit Sri Lanka’s economy due to the decline in demand and supply chain disruption in export-oriented industries, which has led to an economic slowdown that gradually spread across other sectors. Financial support is critical for SMEs to revive their businesses, which account for over 45% of total employment and 52% of gross domestic product of Sri Lanka, the development bank said in a media release.
The new financing will build on the ongoing Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Line of Credit Project, which ADB approved in 2016 to strengthen SMEs’ access to finance. The project is cofinanced with a grant from the G20-led Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) since 2018 to promote women entrepreneurship.
“Through the efficient credit delivery mechanism of the ongoing project, we will swiftly provide affordable working capital loans through 10 local banks for severely affected SMEs in response to COVID-19,” said ADB Financial Sector Specialist for South Asia Takuya Hoshino. “This new loan together with the existing We-Fi grant will further encourage banks to expand their outreach to businesses led by women, to boost long-term economic growth and transformation in the context of a steadily aging population and expected future labour shortage.”
The new loan will introduce a new credit line, cofinanced with a $1.25 million grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), to promote capital investment by tea smallholders. A supplemental $1.75 million technical assistance grant from JFPR will build tea smallholders’ financial literacy and capacity to access financial services and develop policies to promote value chain development for the Sri Lankan tea industry to strengthen its international competitiveness.
I still remember the day of August 1947 floods, as it was the last school day at Kingswood College Kandy and the height the water soured. Water rose to the height of the Cross of the Chrurch at Getambe and the water was so high that it engulfed the Getambe Rajaponawarma Temple leaving only a few leaves of the Bo-tree visible.
The Colombo Additional Magistrate has ordered the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to investigate and submit a report over a complaint about the alleged illegal assets gained by model Piumi Hansamali.
Heritage properties are major tourist attractions world over. Sri Lanka is no exception in this matter. From Colombo, Galle, most of the mountain cities including Nuwara Eliya, Bandarawela, Hatton and Kandy and in the North, hundreds of heritage properties are spread across.
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