Focus on SMEs in 2017 Budgetcheers UN

Sat, 19 Nov 2016 10:37:03 +0000

THE focus on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the 2017 national Budget will spur access to finance which has remained a major constraint in the sector, United Nations (UN) resident coordinator, Janet Rogan has said. Ms Rogan said in an interview that she was impressed with the Budget presentation especially that it focussed on growing the SMEs and stimulating growth.

She said the establishment of an agriculture fund for SMEs to facilitate access to affordable financing was a positive response from Government in assisting the entrepreneurs.“I was particularly pleased to see the focus on small and medium enterprises because I think they have been very constrained in recent years in getting access to financing and they were very much impacted by the challenges we have in 2016.“These measures can really help to unlock the potential to help our small and medium enterprises in Zambia that will have a big impact,” he said.

Ms Rogan also said the Budget focussed on stimulating growth while concentrating on the private sector which was essential to economic growth in any country.“I think that this Budget presentation really shows a lot of indications of strong outreach and concentration of the private sector which I am very happy to see because the private sector is the key part of growing development in any country.“Overall, it seems to me (it was) a coherent presentation, focussed on stimulating growth,” she said.She also said the proposed home-grown economic recovery plan was a good start for Zambia to propose its own objectives to any partner interested in offering aid.