Dr. Anila Jayanth denies fuel, gas, and medicine shortages, outlines SME funding plans
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Deputy Minister of Labour and Finance Dr. Anila Jayanth stated that Sri Lanka will not face shortages of gas, fuel, or medicine, dismissing attempts to create such perceptions.
Jayanth announced that programs worth 95 billion rupees have been submitted for the 2026 budget to support small and medium-sized enterprises, alongside a fully exhausted 40 billion rupee interest relief allocation.
To date, 81 billion rupees in low-interest loans have been provided to 65,000 individuals across three schemes, with loan allocations for women and youth increased up to 20 percent.
She added that transferring delayed Asian Development Bank funds allocated for the agricultural value chain could facilitate the 95 billion rupee expenditure.
