In furtherance of its determination to see to the timely implementation of the small and medium enterprises (SME) component of the presidential palliative grants and loans, the House Committee on SME led by its Chairman, Hon. Mansur Manu Soro, Friday met with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, to ascertain the extent of funding and releases made to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
The House committee had met with other officials including the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs Doris Anite, Accountant General of the Federation and DG/CEO of SMEDAN, Mr. Charles Odii, in this regard.
The 10th House of Representatives under the leadership of Hon. Tajudeen Abass, places high premium on SME development, hence its decision to create a standing committee on SME to ensure effective oversight of the SME activities and programmes of MDAs.
The presidential palliative grants and loans, which comes in three tranches of N50,000 grants to one million businesses, N100,000 — N1 million and N75 billion to manufacturers — are due for disbursement anytime soon.
President Bola Tinubu had directed the implementation of palliatives to cushion the effects of the removal of petrol subsidy across the agricultural, transportation, social safety and SME sectors of the economy in July 2023 and subsequently, the House of Representatives’ resolution mandating its committee on SME to interface with officials of government responsible to ensure timely and effective implementation of the palliative.
