The Sri Lankan Government has so far offered Rs 235 million to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) under its Non Performing Loan working capital loan scheme, a statement on the progress of Sri Lanka’s 2026 MSME spending package, made by the Ministry of Finance yesterday (24) said.
According to the statement shared by early Q3, Sri Lanka had spent roughly over 80% (Rs 75 billion) of the Rs 95 billion spending package that had been allocated earlier this year, as a response to the damages borne by MSME businesses during Cyclone Ditwah, in December 2025.
Earlier this year, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance, Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s officials had discussed the possibility of introducing a cap on MSME interest rates – based on concerns over the inability for MSMEs to meet the current interest payments due to the multiple economic shocks faced in the last 5 years.
According to Committee on Public Finance Chairperson (COPF) Harsha de Silva, the MSME segment’s total debt burden had exceeded Rs 1 trillion.
The Ministry of Finance’s statement released yesterday added that a total of 342 MSMEs had completed restructuring of business loans, under the guidance of the Ministry, and had recommenced operations.
Further, the statement said that through the National Credit Guarantee Institution, guarantees worth approximately Rs 9,650 million had been issued for 2,143 loans, covering a total loan value of nearly Rs 14,000 million across all districts.
Between the end of 2025 and in the beginning of 2026, the Government had offered businesses that had borne damage from the cyclone a loan subsidy of Rs 200,000, at an interest rate of 3%, with micro-entrepreneurs eligible for up to Rs 250,000, small-medium-scale entrepreneurs up to Rs 1 million, while medium/large-scale entrepreneurs offered up to Rs 25 million.
According to the database maintained by the Ministry of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, of the businesses that had applied for post-cyclone compensation; 5,639 businesses that had been registered were micro enterprises, 4,636 were small businesses, and 2,986 were medium-scale firms.
The statement concluded by adding that the Ministry of Finance is actively exploring the possibility of allocating financial provisions for similar concessionary loan schemes in 2027.