SMEs largely affected by coronavirus outbreak- Ofori-Atta

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has stated the self-employed and small scale businesses will be the most impacted by the novel Coronavius that has invaded the country.

According to him, although the impact of the virus is crippling both small and big businesses, the former is feeling the heat of the pandemic more.

“COVID-19 is particularly damaging to SMEs because most of these businesses rely of social interactions, like hotels, restaurants drinking bars, and all retail shops, hairdressers, barbers, builders, musicians, taxi drivers, and street hawkers,” He noted.

The Finance Minister announced this in his Monday briefing in Parliament, on the effects of the global health crisis on Ghana’s economy.

Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease, businesses worldwide have been experiencing a slowdown. Many businesses have had to shut down production due to the global pandemic causing disruptions in the supply chain.

Employers have had to lay off workers since the flow of businesses have either slowed down or have come to a virtual halt.

On the back of this, the Minister said the virus does not discriminate. He reiterated that it is attacking small and big businesses. He predicted that the effect of the deadly virus is likely to continue for the next two years unless interventions to bring business back to robustness are bold.

“Employers have seen demand drop dramatically. The hairdresser, taxi driver, kayayei, the bar, the restaurant owner, are all already feeling the pinch from this global pandemic. The virus does not discriminate. It is attacking small and big businesses. And this might go on for the next two years unless intervention are bold.”