Government sets up Recovery Fund for Businesses affected by COVID 19.

The Government has established a Small Business Recovery Fund -SBRF to provide affordable financial loans to businesses that have experienced hardships due to the measures undertaken to control the spread of Corona virus disease in the country.

President Yoweri Museveni in his recent address said government should establish a Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Fund to support businesses that have been affected by COVID-19.

The government has partnered with h Commercial Banks, Microfinance Deposit Taking Institutions -MDIs and Credit Institutions across the country, to  set up an initial amount of 100 billion shillings for the commencement of the Small business recovery fund.

The fund  shall be administered by Bank of Uganda in conjunction with  Participating Financial Institutions -PFIs to extend loans of eligible small businesses.

Matia Kasaija, the Minister for Finance, Planning and Economic Development says that PFIs will match the Government contributions by 100 billion shillings to form a consortium pool of 200 billion shillings.

The fund  will be used primarily to provide financial loans to small businesses that have suffered  financial distress during the lock down.

However, John Walugembe the Executive Director for the Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises -FSME embraces the initiative and encourages people with small businesses to go for these funds.