RM3 billion financing fund available, Guan Eng tells SMEs

PUTRAJAYA: Against the backdrop of challenging business environment, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng assured that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has sufficient financing fund of RM3 billion available for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as micro enterprises.
“There is RM3 billion of funds ready to be disbursed to SMEs, so there is no reason why SMEs can’t get financing,” he told a press conference today.
Meanwhile, Bank Negara assistant governor Abu Hassan Alshari Yahaya said the central bank is closely monitoring the business loan segment, which has been growing in tandem with the country’s economic expansion.
He added that the business loan segment is at a healthy level with low non-performing loan ratio.
Abu Hassan said banks evaluate the applicants’ profile before disbursing the financing, with 90% of SMEs receiving their financing successfully.
He noted that there are different types of funds which will be consolidated going forward in order to be clearer for the public.
However, he said besides financing, SMEs are also facing issues such as competitiveness, business fluctuation, difficulty to get workers and higher cost of operation.
“When we do an in-depth study, the issues are more complex...The best way is that we cooperate with the agencies involved to find a comprehensive solution,” he added.