Small business loan entity to scale back operations

A major state entity set up to provide financing to small businesses will be cutting back on its operations, and indications are that it may even be shut down.

Information Minister Ruel Reid announced on Wednesday that the entity, the Self-Start Fund, will be scaling down in order to cut costs.

But Donovan Wignall, president of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Alliance, said the entity, which had been merged with the Micro Investment Development Agency and the Jamaica Business Development Corporation, would not be missed if it is closed.

"I didn't see the impact before. If you were set up to do something and you weren't able to do it, because you didn't have the resources, then with you not being there, then there would be no impact. It won't be missed," Wignall said.