Supporting Disaster-Affected Small Businesses
New Circular Issued to Support Disaster-Affected Micro, Small, and Self-Employed Businesses
• Financial assistance of Rs. 200,000 for micro, small, and self-employed businesses registered with the Ministry of Industry
• Financial assistance of Rs. 200,000 for micro, small, and self-employed businesses registered as businesses at Divisional Secretariat offices
• Financial assistance of Rs. 50,000 for unregistered home-based businesses operating from permanent structures
• Rs. 50,000 Compensation Allocated for Unregistered Production Industries and Greenhouses
• Temporary Pedestrian and Mobile Business establishments to receive Rs. 25,000 Compensation
A new circular has been issued by the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development to provide relief to micro, small, and self-employed businesses affected by Cyclone Ditwah.
The circular has been issued in line with Circular No. 08/2025, which was introduced to restore livelihoods disrupted by the disaster.
The Government programme to empower communities affected by the disaster was introduced through Budget Circular No. 08/2025 dated December 5, 2025. Expanding this relief framework further and ensuring more effective and efficient delivery of assistance, additional circulars No. 08/2025(i) dated December 20, 2025, and No. 08/2025(iii) dated Jan. 22, 2026, have been issued.
The social empowerment programme under the newly issued circular is structured as follows.
Assistance for affected individuals, small and micro businesses
A one-time grant to restore businesses damaged by the disaster to a condition suitable for reopening.
LKR 200,000 for individual, small, and micro-businesses registered with the Ministry of Industry.
LKR 200,000 for individual, small, and micro-businesses registered with the Divisional Secretariat as a business entity.
LKR 50,000 for unregistered home-based businesses operated from a permanent structure.
LKR 50,000 per unit for unregistered production industries, including greenhouses.
LKR 25,000 for temporary business setups, including mobile and street hawking.
A grant will be provided to owners of the commercial buildings affected by the disaster to restore their business premises to operational condition.
A grant of Rs. 500,000/- will be provided to each business building owner who voluntarily opts to receive assistance without a damage assessment.
A grant of up to Rs. 5,000,000/- will be provided to each business building owner who opts to receive assistance after a damage assessment, based on the building’s assessed value.
In addition to the above grants, the following loan facilities have also been provided.
In addition to these grants, the Treasury has introduced a new credit scheme to provide loans for business owners whose enterprises were affected by the disaster, enabling them to restart their operations and meet essential requirements.
Accordingly:
Facilities have been provided for affected businesses to obtain loans ranging from Rs. 250,000 to Rs. 25,000,000 through the banking system at an interest rate of 3%, with a 6-month grace period and repayment over 3 years to restart their operations.
As part of the investment loans for business reconstruction, entrepreneurs whose businesses were damaged can access bank loans of up to Rs. 25 million at an interest rate of 5%, with a 12-month grace period and repayment over 10 years.