RM12.43 bln SME soft loans approved as of Sept 10 - Tengku Zafrul

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said these loans handled by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) would benefit 26,154 SMEs.

"The amount includes Special Relief Facility (SRF), Automation and Digitalisation Facility (ADF), All-Economic Sector Facility (AES) dan Agrofood Facility (AF) funds," he said in the 69th Economic Stimulus Implementation and Coordination Unit Between Agencies (LAKSANA) report released today.

He reiterated that although the SRF funds had been fully utilised, SMEs could still apply for financing schemes that were still available through BNM funds such as ADF, AES and AF.

SMEs can also apply for other financings through imSME platform via the https://imsme.com.my/portal/bm/ link which can assist in matching the required financing with various fund providers for SMEs.

On the SME Digitalisation Grant, Tengku Zafrul said a total of RM96.46 million had been channelled to 34,761 SMEs in the form of matching grants as of Sept 10, 2021.

"Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) has provided 50 per cent matching grants of up to RM5,000 to assist SMEs to adopt digitisation services in their day-to-day business operations and increase business competitiveness and productivity.

"Each SME is allowed to apply for up to three types of services with one or more digitisation service providers registered with the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)," he said.

He said each grant was only provided by the government for a period of five years beginning from Feb 17, 2020, or when it reached 100,000 applications, whichever was earlier.

On the Danajamin PRIHATIN Guarantee Scheme (DPGS), Tengku Zafrul said 86 applications for a total of RM1.72 billion in guarantees benefitting 52 companies had been approved as of Sept 10, 2021.

"The fund that was announced by the government under the PRIHATIN Economic Stimulus Package (PRIHATIN) provides a guarantee scheme facility worth RM50 billion which covers up to 80 per cent of the loan amount for financing working capital requirements.

"The scheme is targeted at viable businesses in all sectors facing difficulties due to the outbreak of COVID-19," he said.

To date, a total of 11 banks have participated in the scheme, namely Malayan Banking Bhd, CIMB Bank Bhd, OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd, Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd, AmBank (M) Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd, Affin Bank Bhd/Affin Hwang Investment Bank Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd, Bangkok Bank Bhd and MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd.