State loans to youth, women dry up amid funding cuts

Thousands of youth and women have been left without funding for their businesses as budget cuts leave agencies set up to provide cheap credit unable to lend.

The budget cuts have seen at least three funds created to provide funding to youth, women and persons with disabilities (PWDs) fail to extend loans in the three months to September 2024 when the government did not provide funding, a Controller of Budget (COB) report shows.