SriLanka, Sept. 4 -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) under its SMELOC2 loan scheme has provided over Rs 530 million to SMEs in the Northern Province as of end June 2026, a recently held media field visit revealed.

The ADB island wide supported 2,433 SMEs covering LKR14.9 billion (USD 49.9 million) worth of loans across agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, export and technology sectors, out of which 657 (27%) were women beneficiaries and 539 (22%) were climate finance projects. As of July 2026, the ADB supported National Credit Guarantee Institution Limited (NCGIL) had issued 2,130 guarantees amounting to Rs 9.6 billion (USD 31.6 million) supporting loans totaling Rs13.9 billion (USD 46.3 million). Out of the guarantees issued SLRs 3.7 b...