COMPANIES eligible for Covid-19 relief have been caught in a bind after finding out that their respective banks had yet to receive the allocation from the government.
This complaint was conveyed two weeks ago, said Subang MP Wong Chen in his reply to the Agong’s speech in Parliament today.
“The loans had been approved but when these companies went to the bank, they were informed that the government had yet to deposit the money for Prihatin loans,” he said.
The Ministry of Finance has to come forward to clear the issue, he added.
Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said on July 14 that the total financing for the SME Soft Loan Funds administered by Bank Negara Malaysia, which had been approved by local banks and officially accepted by SMEs, was RM9.1 bil, benefitting 20,545 SMEs.
This amount includes funds from the Special Relief Facility, Automation and Digitalisation Facility, All-Economic Sector Facility and Agrofood facility,” said Tengku Zafrul.
Under the BSN micro-credit scheme, a total of 10,264 applications were approved with loans valued at RM344.4 mil. Of the amount approved, RM223 mil were disbursed to 6,200 SMEs.
From entrepreneurs’ fund Tekun, 25,502 applications were approved, involving a total of RM194.63 mil.
From the amount approved, payment was made to 22,989 SMEs involving a total of RM171 mil. – July 20, 2020
