238,868 beneficiaries get N9.01bn payroll support - FG

The Federal Government, on Friday, said it was ramping up its COVID-19 interventions in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises sector under the Economic Sustainability Plan.

It stated that based on this, a total of 238,868 individuals from 41,726 businesses had so far been paid various sums totalling about N9.01bn under the payroll support component of the ESP as at December 8, 2020.

The update compiled by the Project Delivery Office indicated that disbursements to approved payroll support beneficiaries, which commenced on November 17, 2020, was progressing well.

The Special Assistant to the President on MSMEs, Office of the Vice President, and Coordinator, Project Delivery Office, Tola Johnson, said 2.6 per cent of the beneficiaries were persons with special needs.

He said in a statement issued by the PDO in Abuja that a 43 per cent coverage of female employees/beneficiaries had also been achieved in line with the project objective.

A further breakdown of the beneficiaries showed that 211,347 persons had received N30,000 under the scheme, while 53,347 others were paid N50,000.

“More beneficiaries will be added to the payroll as soon as enumerators complete the verification of data submitted by the MSMEs,” Johnson stated.