IMF releases roadmap for governments to arrest SMEs bankruptcy.

By Cyprian Ntiamba Obi Ntui in Yaounde

The International Monetary Fund, IMF has unveiled a roadmap intended to assist countries stem the tide of insolvency plaguing Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, SMEs. According to the experts, the pandemic has hit small and medium enterprises particularly hard, partly because they are predominant in some contact-intensive sectors like hotels, restaurants, and entertainment. As a result, many economies risk experiencing a wave of liquidations that could destroy millions of jobs, damage the financial system, and weaken an already fragile economic recovery. Therefore, policymakers should take novel and swift action to alleviate this wave.

The Fund assured that there was abundant liquidity support through loans, credit guarantees, and moratoria on debt payments which have protected many small and medium enterprises from the immediate risk of bankruptcy; stressing that liquidity support alone cannot address solvency problems.