The government allocated MVR 450 million in the 2020 State Budget for the SME Development Finance Corporation (SDFC), which was established for the betterment of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME).
Speaking at the parliamentary sitting held to submit the proposed state budget for the coming year, Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer underscored the importance of SMEs, highlighting it was the sector that contributed most to the country's economy.
Of the MVR 450 million allocated for SDFC, MVR 400 million is provided as capital for the bank, while the remaining MVR 50 million is invested to issue loans for SMEs under the SME Act.
"The government's aim is to establish sufficient funds at [SDFC] by investing capital [of MVR 400 million annually], through which it can issue loans without depending on the government for the next three years", said the minister.
He further assured that the government's efforts to further develop SDFC would enable the corporation to issue loans up to MVR 400 million per year for SMEs.
The government has proposed a state budget of MVR 37.5 billion for 2020, which marks an increase of MVR 8.5 billion compared to the budget approved for the ongoing year.
Sign In