(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –Under the ‘Enterprise Sri Lanka’ Programme operated by the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media, loans have been granted to 22,957 entrepreneurs within three months.
The total amount distributed to the recipients under several loan schemes of the ‘Enterprise Sri Lanka’ programme is over Rs.50,000 million, the Finance Ministry said. The Government introduced the Enterprise Sri Lanka programme in the 2018 budget to help rebuild the island as an entrepreneurial paradise using the entrepreneurial skills of Sri Lankans.
The programme was inaugurated by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on June 22, 2018.The programme consists of 16 schemes and the special feature is that the government on behalf of the loan recipient pays either the total interest or part of the interest to the relevant Bank.
The Enterprise Sri Lanka scheme offers attractive concessionary financing to stimulate investment and expansion by entrepreneurs, SMEs and even large business. The loan amount ranges from Rs.50,000 to Rs.750 million.The loans are issued to the recipients through several selected state and private banks.
Several popular schemes such as, Jaya Isura, Sonduru Piyasa, Madya Aruna, Arambuma, Haritha Naya, to are a part of this programme.There are three loan schemes which are foreign funded. The Asian Development Bank recently granted Rs. 8,000 million to Sri Lanka to implement the ‘Surya Bala Shakthi’ loan scheme, which aims at fixing solar panels on the roofs of the factories and the houses under this programme.