ADB grants US $ 9.5mn to support women SMES
US $ 9.5 million has been received by the Government of Sri Lanka as a grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) through the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We – Fi), to support the ongoing small and medium enterprises (SMES) line of credit, a communiqué issued by the External Resources Department revealed.
In this connection, Finance and Mass Media Ministry Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samarathunga, on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka and ADB Sri Lanka Resident Mission Country Director Sri Widowati on behalf of ADB, signed the grant agreement, on July 6, 2018, at the Finance and Mass Media Ministry.
Since women-led SMES face significant difficulties in accessing finance, a grant of US $ 12.5518 million will be mobilized from the We – Fi, on top of the loan funds for encouraging women entrepreneurs.
Out of the grant of US $ 12.5518 million, US $ 9.5 million will be provided to the women entrepreneurs on grant basis through participating financial institutions. The balance amount of the grant will be used for technical assistance and administrative cost.
Additional incentives will be provided for women who complete business skills training and for women in the Uva, Sabaragamuwa, Northern and Eastern Provinces.
Financial inclusion for SMES is important to realize the development objectives of the government, such as promoting exports, generating jobs and increasing per capita income.
As such, the government mobilized US $ 100 million from ADB in 2016, with the objective of financing SMES and having successfully disbursed these funds, another US $ 75 million was mobilized from ADB, in 2018 as an additional financing to further enhance the benefits to the SME sector.
The Finance and Mass Media Ministry will continue to be the executing agency of the project, as in the ongoing SME projects funded by ADB.