The National Government will be supporting the Credit Guarantee Corporation (CGC) to ensure that the SME sector gets the support needed to flourish and with it, contribute to the overall development of the country and its people. The country’s Chief Secretary to Government Mr. Ivan Pomaleu, who represented the government at the recent agreement signing between the CGC and ten private financial institutions in the country, said that the State has allocated funds to support the Corporation. “There is some support in the 2024 Budget of K3 million, which will help start the work for the Corporation,” said Mr. Pomaleu. “We are having conversations with our other shareholder to make sure that the commitment to support come through this year.” The Chief Secretary also said that there is real possibility that the government will channel some of the SME lending budget support through to supporting the CGC. Mr. Pomaleu and his team are working to also get this support through. “I think that goes to demonstrate our SME growth and the importance we place on making sure that our organizations like the Credit Guarantee Corporation, takes root and actually begin to establish and provide the support that’s required.” Meanwhile, the agreement signing between the CGC and the ten financial institutions, will provide credit guarantee for the financial institutions, which will then reduce the credit risk of the lenders and allow them to extend finance to customers and support ventures that may have previously been considered too risky. This will enable more micro to small business owners to access funds with ease to help grow and expand their small businesses and with it, the SME sector in the country.