Financing Gap pursuing in Sri Lanka; Affecting Women-Owned SMEs

On 14 June, 2024, during the launch of Women Entrepreneurs Finance Code Project (WE Finance Code) in Colombia, Country Director, Sri Lanka Resident Mission, Asian Development Bank (ADB)- Takafumi Kadono spoke in the Awareness Session revealing that there is a surprising financing gap of USD 17 billion for Sri Lanka’s women owned SMEs.

In addition, the country’s gender gap in employment and entrepreneurship pursuing to affect economic empowerment of women in opportunities and the resilience to economic shocks. He urged to address this particular topic since 2016.

He said, “As many of you know, women’s entrepreneurs are a vital segment of Sri Lanka’s economy and today it is estimated that 20% of SMEs in Sri Lanka are women’s businesses. They provide products and services across key segments of the economy in the country. And while they represent such a significant portion, financing and policies have tended not to take into account the specific needs and different challenges they face in starting and growing their businesses.”

In the year 2021, the Labour Force Survey unveiled that the participation of female labour force was almost 32 percent, lower than men’s 71 percent. He added, “For example, our recent research shows that if there were gender parity accessing finance globally, an estimated USD 5 to 6 trillion in net value addition could be generated.”