SMEs will always thrive: Exec

A BANK executive says the small to medium enterprise (SME) and informal sector will always thrive in any slow economy.
People’s Micro Bank Ltd (PMBL) chief executive Anthony Dela Cruz told The National yesterday that although, generally, the PNG economy was slow, noting specifically the continuous foreign exchange shortage, PMBL aimed to increase its customer reach by 30 per cent this year.
PMBL, a subsidiary and commercial arm of National Development Bank (NDB) currently has 110,000 customers.
“The PNG economy is very silent and there are a lot of negative perceptions about it, however, the micro entrepreneurs, especially in the informal sector, will still thrive because people need to survive,” he said.
“Even if sales are slow, they are still able to save some money for future use, unlike the big businesses like the wholesalers, exporters, they are the ones seriously affected by the economic slowdown, especially the foreign exchange shortage.
“The micro and the informal sector, the sellers and business people we will continue to see them very resilient because they might be closed today, but tomorrow they are opened again.
“They only require small capital to start up and they get a loan of small amount of K500, a K1,000, just to kick start the business,” hesaid.
Dela Cruz said the economy in general would be positive by the end of the year.
“All the other banks have announced that the economy may not be very prosperous, but there are hopes for a good year for these people, even in a slow economy.”