New circular issued to assist disaster-affected micro, small and self-employed businesses

A new circular has been issued by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to provide relief to micro, small and self-employed businesses affected by the disaster situation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.

The circular has been issued in line with Circular No. 08/2025, which was introduced to restore disrupted livelihoods following the disaster, according to the President’s Media Division (PMD).

The government programme to empower communities affected by the disaster was introduced through Budget Circular No. 08/2025 dated December 5, 2025. Expanding this relief framework further and ensuring more effective and efficient delivery of assistance, additional circulars No. 08/2025(i) dated December 20, 2025 and No. 08/2025(iii) dated January 22, 2026 were issued.

The social empowerment programme under the newly issued circular is structured as follows.

Assistance for affected individual, small and micro businesses

A one-time grant to restore businesses damaged by the disaster to a condition suitable for reopening.

Rs. 200,000 for individual, small and micro-businesses registered with the Ministry of Industry.

Rs. 200,000 for individual, small and micro-businesses registered with the Divisional Secretariat as a business entity.

Rs. 50,000 for unregistered home-based businesses operated from a permanent structure.

Rs. 50,000 per unit for unregistered production industries, including greenhouses.

Rs. 25,000 for temporary business setups, including mobile and street hawking.

A grant will also be provided to owners of the commercial buildings affected by the disaster to restore their business premises to operational condition.

A grant of Rs. 500,000- will be provided to each business building owner who voluntarily opts to receive assistance without a damage assessment.

A grant of up to Rs. 5,000,000 will be provided to the owner of each business building who opts to receive assistance after a damage assessment, based on the assessed value of the building.

In addition to these grants, the Treasury has introduced a new credit scheme to provide loans for business owners whose enterprises were affected by the disaster, enabling them to restart their operations and meet essential requirements, the PMD said.

Accordingly:

Facilities have been provided for affected businesses to obtain loans ranging from Rs. 250,000 to Rs. 25,000,000 through the banking system at an interest rate of 3%, with a six-month grace period and repayment over three years to restart their operations.

As part of the investment loans for business reconstruction, entrepreneurs whose businesses were damaged can access bank loans of up to Rs. 25 million at an interest rate of 5%, with a 12-month grace period and repayment over 10 years.