And while those are the numbers for external trade, support for the local economy is ongoing thanks to the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises grants and loans disbursed through the National Bank of Belize.
The MSME Support Program was opened back in August and it set aside $14.5 million dollars for grants, loans and wage subsidies for Belize's Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19.
A release says that since September 15th, a total of 693 grants have been paid out amounting to $1.7 million dollars.
Additionally, a total of 196 MSME support loans have been approved for businesses totalling $2.9 million dollars.
A total of 3,994 applications were submitted; 1,489 were abandoned or not completed, 623 are still ongoing and 1,882 have been submitted.
If you have not received a response via text message from the MSME Support Program, call 613-7342 to check on the status of your application. Those who have been contacted to complete their application are encouraged to do so as soon as possible.
