THE Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) said its members are committed to provide financing to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in line with Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) move to increase the allocation to its SME fund by RM4 bil, bringing the total allocation to RM13.1 bil.
This fund, which is aimed at providing assistance to more SMEs in sustaining business operations and preserving jobs as well as to support economic growth, will be made available to the SME segment via the participating financial institutions.
As of April 2, financial institutions have approved about 1,300 applications under the three facilities (Special Relief Facility, Agrofood Facility, Automation and Digitalisation Facility) of BNM’s Fund for SMEs, totalling RM682 mil.
This is in addition to the other financing provided to SMEs by banks under their own financing schemes where for the first two months of the year they have disbursed RM42 bil of financing to these enterprises.
“SMEs play a vital role in the Malaysian economy and are considered the backbone of the industrial development of the country. Being in the business of lending, our member banks are cognizant of the importance of business continuity for this segment and are ready to assist and provide access to financing for eligible SME borrowers,” said ABM in a statement.
In light of the Movement Control Order (MCO), it said member banks are still processing loan applications, though remotely, and accordingly there may be longer processing times for loan applications.
SMEs can also get in touch with Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd (CGC) via its imSME.com.my portal to explore the various financing initiatives available. imSME is Malaysia’s SME Financing/Loan Referral Platform, powered by CGC.
“Such SMEs are also advised to consider alternative sources of funding, for example the Malaysia Co-Investment Fund scheme (MyCIF) which is administered by the Securities Commission (SC). MyCIF offers funding via equity crowdfunding (ECF) and/or peer-to-peer financing (P2P),” ABM said. — April 8, 2020
