$5 Billion for MSMEs in the new Budget
How does the new budget impact you as an entrepreneur? $5 billion for financing businesses is now included in the Social and Economic Recovery and Vaccine programme (SERVE). Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Dr. Norman Dunn, told us more on #MoneyMovesJa with EXIM Bank’s Business Advisory Service.
“The government has continuously recognized the importance of the MSME Sector. It’s a sector that is about 420,000 businesses contributing to about 3.7% of the GDP, ” stated Dunn. “The budget reflects that,” he added.
The Minister pointed out that even before the new budget, programmes like the CARE Programmes provided benefits for MSMEs.
Go Digital
The $60 billion SERVE Jamaica Programme will consist of $5 billion targeted financing for businesses. This includes $1 billion to the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) for the Go Digital Programme.
The Go Digital Program is a combination of loans and grants to bring businesses into the digital platform so that they can accomplish maximum efficiency. It is an initiative to enhance and encourage businesses to move towards a digital platform.
“With the Go Digital program, what we intend to do is to offer $200,000 each to the MSMEs as a grant,” stated Dunn. “In addition to that, there is a $800,000 component that they can access as a loan with a 2% interest rate.”
Equity Funding
Another $2 billion from the budget, will go towards two equity funds exclusively focused on providing equity financing to MSMEs. Equity is permanent capital and by increasing the availability of institutional forms of equity capital, the government aims to improve the ability of MSMEs to grow and flourish.
Loans for MSMEs
The remaining $2 billion will go towards lending to MSMEs.
“This creates a huge pool of financial opportunities for SMEs,” stated Dunn.
The State Minister emphasized that a lot of businesses are informal and that it may create a problem when it comes to accessing the funds. The government, therefore, continues to strive to move these businesses towards formality. Several opportunities available are available to business owners who choose to seek and take advantage of them.
Visit EXIM Bank’s Business Advisory Service at:
https://eximbankja.com
