The Bangladesh government had unveiled a stimulus package of Tk230 billion for small and micro-entrepreneurs to help them tide over the negative impact resulting from the prolonged lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the benefits of this government initiative never reached those who truly needed it as they didn’t have proper documentation to apply for the funding. As a result, at least 400,000 small and micro business owners are currently saddled with debt after they availed loans from local money lenders at high-interest rates out of desperation. Meanwhile, it is learned that hardly nine percent of micro and small business owners have benefited from the stimulus package.
