Loan to women doubled in seven months

Kathmandu, Mar. 5

The COVID-19 pandemic might emerge as the turning point for the women entrepreneurs as the figures suggest 85 per cent jump in the loans offered to the women-owned enterprises in the last seven months.

By mid-July 2020, financial institutions’ lending to women entrepreneurs stood at Rs. 4 billion, that amount has now reached Rs. 27 billion, informed Dr. Gunakar Bhatta, Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), at a webinar on ‘Towards recovery: Women entrepreneurs coping with the pandemic’ by South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE) the other day.

He also pointed out that the number of female borrowers has also increased three-fold during the period.

Highlighting the difficulty in access to finance faced by the women entrepreneurs, Chandni Joshi, a senior gender, rights and policy specialist, said that investing in women should not be considered a charity but a smart decision.

She urged the private sector to invest in women-owned or woman-led businesses as viable business decisions.

Shobha Gurung, Vice President, Federation of Nepalese Cottage and Small Industries (FNCSI), pointed out the difficulty faced by their members as many enterprises are out of business and urged them to utilise the period to enhance the digital and financial literacy of the members.

“During crisis like this, small businesses need more support from the government to survive,” she said.

Likewise, Reeta Simha, President of Federation of Women Entrepreneurs’ Association of Nepal (FWEAN), said that along with the soft skills, the entrepreneurs need financial support for their recovery and revival.

The webinar was organised to disseminate the findings of a small-scale survey of women entrepreneurs engaged in the manufacturing sector conducted by SAWTEE to examine the impact of the pandemic on their ability to do business.

The survey found that 61 per cent of the women-owned businesses reported being affected by the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown measures; 57 per cent sought loans to cope with the pandemic and 56 per cent used e-commerce platforms for sales or promotion during the period.

Similarly, 92 per cent of the respondents were not aware of any support facilities offered by the government, stated Dikshya Singh, Senior Research Officer of SAWTEE.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 6 March 2021.