January 13, Colombo (LNW): Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) still reeling from the impact of the Easter Sunday terror attacks and the subsequent Covid-19 pandemic are facing renewed hardship, with promised financial relief failing to materialise, the Joint District Entrepreneur Organisation has warned.
Addressing a media briefing, the organisation’s President, Chamli Kumarasiri, said a series of proposals put forward by the Ministry of Industry after detailed assessments were intended to help revive enterprises damaged by the attacks. However, he claimed these measures have effectively stalled, as commercial banks have shown little willingness to adopt them.
Mr Kumarasiri emphasised that business owners are not calling for blanket debt cancellations, but for reasonable concessions based on individual assessments of viability and losses. He argued that a merit-based approach would allow deserving entrepreneurs to recover, while maintaining discipline within the financial system.
He was critical of what he described as weak follow-through by the Ministry of Finance, noting that repeated efforts to secure discussions at the highest political level, including with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, had so far been unsuccessful.
The organisation has urged the government to step in more decisively by appointing an independent panel to review and guide bank lending decisions for affected businesses. Mr Kumarasiri also renewed calls for the establishment of development banks outlined in the national Budget, saying these institutions could play a vital role in supporting long-term recovery.
As immediate relief, he proposed that loans impacted by the enforcement of the Parate law be transferred to the state’s asset management entity. In addition, he appealed for the introduction of special loan facilities without collateral requirements, arguing that such support is essential if struggling entrepreneurs are to rebuild their livelihoods and contribute once again to economic growth.
