Sri Lanka, Oct. 22 -- By Shabiya Ali Ahlam

The ongoing global health crisis continues to present fresh challenges to businesses, particularly the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, with eight out of 10 such enterprises struggling to stay afloat, a recent survey carried out by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the

World Bank, revealed.

An assessment of the impacts of COVID-19 on SMEs across the country revealed that eight out of 10 of such businesses experienced difficulties in meeting operating expenses and had some shortfall in debt repayment or ability to meet the financial obligations, due to the pandemic.

The findings highlighted that two-thirds of SMEs reported a decrease in deman...