The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, on Friday, said the Federal Government was deeply committed to creating a more business-friendly environment for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to thrive.

Osinbajo noted that MSMEs are the engine room of the Nigerian economy.

The Vice President disclosed this while explaining the reasons behind the issuance of survival to small businesses by the Buhari-led federal government.

He spoke at the virtual commissioning of the Fashion Cluster Shared Facility for MSMEs, the Eko Fashion Hub 1, in Lagos State, details of which are contained in a statement forwarded to DAILY POST by his spokesman, Laolu Akande.

The Vice President explained that the Economic Sustainability Plan has in it a survival fund, adding that “Buhari’s approval of the implementation of the MSMEs Survival Fund as part of the ESP was to cushion the impact of COVID-19 on the economy.”

He said, “Under the Survival Fund is a Payroll Support Scheme, which will provide up to N50,000 in monthly salaries for up to ten (10) staff of a qualifying business, for a period of three months.

“There is also a N50,000 grant for 100,000 small and medium-scale businesses, while 333,000 self-employed persons working as artisans and transporters will benefit from a one-off grant of N30,000.

“The President has also approved that the Federal Government bear the full cost of business name registration for 250,000 new businesses nationwide.

“We are doing all these to support MSMEs across the country to maintain their staffing levels and keep their businesses afloat through these very challenging times.”