Agenda | May 11,2024
It is not a good time to be in business, especially for shoeshine boys. For the past six weeks, ever since the implementation of lockdown measures to contain the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), they have found customers few and far between. Living hand to mouth, they have experienced firsthand the harm of the “cure” for the pandemic.
It is not a good time to be in business, especially for shoeshine boys.
They are not isolated in this. Employees of small businesses or the self-employed have been devastated by a pandemic that has been defined as an economic and security catastrophe first and a health crisis second. Credit should be given to the government for recognising this problem, according to the expert. But as it scrambles to provide support for the private sector, those without pronounced importance to the economy are starting to fall through the cracks.
If the dire economic situation continues, close to 1.9 million people in urban areas may end up jobless and lose 256 million dollars in the coming three months, according to the Jobs Creation Commission. This is just for those who are self-employed.
To protect those who may fall through the cracks, widening the Productive Safety Net Programme has been proposed. But this will cost 134 million dollars more than what was allocated initially. Providing access to zero-interest credit and loan guarantee schemes has also been recommended by the Jobs Commission.
Despite these measures, there is no guarantee that small businesses can be supported enough to survive. In the case of those engaged in the informal sector, like the shoeshine boys, it is an open question whether or not they can even be reached.
You can read the full story here
PUBLISHED ON
May 02,2020 [ VOL
21 , NO
1044]
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