Special loan scheme for women in SMI business sector

The Government has taken measures to empower women in the micro, small and medium business sector, Cabinet Spokesman, Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunwardhana said.

He was speaking at the weekly Cabinet media briefing held at the Government Information Department yesterday.

The Cabinet approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to implement a special loan scheme to remove obstacles for women to engage in economic activities by using Rs. 2 billion out of the Rs. 20 billion previously allocated to implement an investment scheme to re-strengthen the enterprise sector.

It is observed that women’s participation in Sri Lanka’s economic affairs is at a lower level than other regional and Asian countries. There are various reasons for this and according to the 2022 survey of Sri Lanka’s workforce, 35 percent of the economically active population are women.

It shows a significant disparity in the gender contribution rates of economic participation. Opportunities for accessing financial resources are limited due to reasons such as women’s limited financial literacy and lack of property or security required to obtain a loan.

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