Survey Revealed that 76% MSMEs will Survive the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic has made the economy really struggle as almost everything has come to standstill. But even on such conditions, a market survey conducted by Magma Fincorp and SP Jain Institute of Management and Research found that nearly 76 per cent of businesses in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) segment are confident of surviving the pandemic.

The findings of the survey which was conducted in the second half of May 2020 are based on responses from 14,444 MSMEs. The survey focussed on the financial impact of the pandemic on MSMEs and their outlook towards the earnings.

''Almost 50 per cent of MSMEs have witnessed a 20-50 per cent impact on their earnings due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, while 76 per cent of them seem to be far more positive as they rated themselves average or above average in terms of their own financial health,'' said the survey.

However, close to half the respondents in the non-essential sector were negative in outlook, compared to the 25 per cent for those in the essential businesses.

"Nearly 53 per cent of the respondents had availed of the government's moratorium either from Magma or from other lenders. Around 51 per cent stated that they did not need to borrow," it showed.

More than two-thirds of the businesses surveyed were in the non-essentials business, and were from the southern and western part of the country. Northern and eastern part of the country reported greater negative outlook among the geographical regions, it said.