Although the government has touted the private sector as the engine of growth, the sector due to the high cost of credit and limited access is not competitive in the sub-region.
More importantly, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with the potential to grow and expand, due to the situation, are faced with challenges and hence cannot drive economic growth to their full potential.
“Lending rates remain highest across the sub-region and do not support private sector development,” ISSER mentioned in its report.
It is, therefore, the recommendation of ISSER to the government to address this challenge so that the private sector can realise its potential to drive economic growth and development.
Much attention, ISSER says should be given to the implementation of the SME Go Initiative which seeks to partly address the lending rate challenges with easy and affordable credit.
However, the bigger goal is to ensure that policies are implemented leading to the drastic reduction in the rates in the long-term to make it competitive in the region.
Source:thehighstreetjournal.com