COLOMBO, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's cabinet has approved a proposal to implement a special loan scheme to remove obstacles for women to engage in economic activities, a statement from the government's information department said on Tuesday.
The department said the cabinet decided to allocate 20 billion Sri Lankan rupees (65 million U.S. dollars) as an investment scheme to re-strengthen the enterprise sector.
It said 2 billion rupees (6.5 million U.S. dollars) out of it will be used to implement the women-related loan scheme.
It is observed that women's participation in Sri Lanka's economic affairs is at a lower level than other regional and Asian countries.
According to the 2022 survey of Sri Lanka's workforce, 35 percent of the economically active population are women. It shows a significant disparity in the gender contribution rates of economic participation, according to the department.
The department said opportunities for accessing financial resources are limited due to reasons such as women's limited financial literacy and lack of property or security required to obtain a loan.
These have been identified as the main obstacles faced by women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka, the department added. ■