KINGSTON, Jamaica – Opposition Spokesperson on Industry, Investment & Global Logistics, Anthony Hylton is calling on the Government to do more to assist struggling micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Hylton, who was speaking in the context of what he describes as an unfriendly current business environment, says increased interest rates, high energy prices and the tightening access to capital as well as the shock of the global pandemic, has rendered a large segment of the sector failing or struggling to survive.

“The available evidence indicates that some 40 per cent of the MSME businesses are either teetering on bankruptcy or have already shuttered their businesses as the temporary measures put in place during the pandemic by Government and financial institutions are coming to or have already ended,” Hylton said in a release Monday. “The environment has turned even more hostile for the majority of MSME businesses which were already reeling from the effects of COVID-19 and supply disruption, only to be hit by these increases and the threat of decreased demand for their goods and services.”

Hylton added that the situation is further exacerbated by the fact that the Insolvency Act, 2014, put in place by the PNP Administration to protect firms from becoming bankrupt once they were able to come to an agreement with their creditors, has neither been promoted among the sector, nor reviewed by the current administration, as required by law.

“The result has been that many firms/ entrepreneurs are unaware of the opportunity to put forward proposals to their creditors to save their businesses and livelihoods, and to avoid liquidation,” Hylton said.

He called on the Government to be decisive and act now to save these struggling businesses and the many jobs they provide.