US to offer Sri Lanka USD 40 mn loan

COLOMBO (News1st): The U.S. Government has committed a 40 million dollar loan to Sri Lanka’s Sanasa Development Bank to support small and medium enterprises and women entrepreneurs. The loan from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, the U.S. Government’s development bank, aims to support private sector investment and economic growth in Sri Lanka. The Sanasa Development Bank bank will use the USD 40 million to provide roughly 1,450 loans, ranging from 5 to 10 million LKR each, to SMEs throughout Sri Lanka. At least 40 percent of those loans will be granted to businesses that are owned by women, led by women, or provide a product or service that empowers women. The initial incentive investment agreement on this matter had been inked on the 19th of October 1993 by then Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe.