FG: We’ve paid salaries of over 300,000 employees under MSME survival fund

The federal government says 319,755 employees of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have benefitted from the payroll support scheme.

The announcement was made in a post on Thursday via the official Twitter handle of MSME survival fund.

Update on the Payroll Support Track of the MSME Survival Fund.#SurvivalFundNG #PayrollSupport pic.twitter.com/FWAd7pb59C

— MSME Survival Fund (@SurvivalFund_ng) April 8, 2021

The payroll support scheme is a component of the N75 billion survival fund for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which aims to support and protect such businesses from the potential economic vulnerabilities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As mandated by the programme, the government will pay salaries of a maximum of 10 employees per qualifying MSME for a period of three months.

To qualify for the payroll support scheme, a business must have Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registration; bank verification number (BVN); staff strength of at least 10 persons and maximum of 50. The business must also be owned by a Nigerian.

Applicants must register on the survival fund website and complete the onboarding process by adding organisation, bank and employees details.

According to the federal government, businesses are eligible to get paid under the scheme after application has been successfully verified.

In January, the government extended registration for the payroll support scheme to enable some states meet their quota of beneficiaries.

The portal was reopened for applicants from states excluding Benue, Plateau, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Rivers, and the federal capital territory (FCT).

SOURCE: THE CABLE