Up to the middle of last week, the Small Business Bureau (SBB) said only 10% of applicants for COVID-19 relief had met the criteria to receive financial aid and urged the remainder to submit all the required information in order to speed up the processing of their applications.
When Stabroek News previously spoke with Dr Lowell Porter, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the SBB, he said about 320 local small businesses affiliated with the Bureau applied for financial relief in light of the current slowdown of the country’s economy and the impact on businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But when contacted again last week, Porter disclosed that only a total of 14 local businesses had fully met the criteria to be granted financial aid. This, he said, amounts to only ten per cent of the 143 local businesses who were on their way to being funded.
