PETALING JAYA: RHB Banking Group has approved more than RM500 million in special relief facility (SRF) for SMEs to alleviate their short-term cash flow difficulties arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The SRF is part of the RM5 billion Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Fund for SMEs, which has been made available under RHB SME’s financial relief assistance programme to assist those affected by the pandemic to sustain business operations, safeguard jobs, as well as support economic growth.
RHB group managing director Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli revealed that it has approved more than 700 applications for the SRF from over 1,500 applications it has received so far.
“The highest number of approvals granted are from the wholesale and retail trade sectors, at 31% with a total facility amount of RM155 million. This is followed by 16% from the manufacturing sector at RM79 million, while the rest are mainly for SMEs from the various services sectors,” he said in a statement.
RHB highlighted that eligible SMEs can obtain working capital financing of up to RM1 million at a financing rate of 3.5% per annum, inclusive of any guarantee fee, with a maximum tenure of up to 5.5 years, including the six-month moratorium period.
It stated that the facility is available under term financing and has up to 80% guarantee coverage by Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd.
The bank noted that business owners can submit their application for the SRF through its RHB SME Online financing platform, which is accessible by both new and existing customer throughout the movement control order (MCO) period.
Khairussaleh revealed that almost half of the approvals for the facility is from new financing customers.
“We currently see an encouraging 36% of SRF applications being submitted through the online platform and we strongly encourage SMEs to make use of our digital platform particularly during this MCO period,” he said.
In the days ahead, RHB will also be engaging its SME customers through webinars and Zoom to conduct talks on SRF applications as well as provide advice on financial management during this challenging period.
Apart from the SRF, the bank also supports affected SMEs by restructuring or rescheduling financing installment payments, and by offering moratorium on loans and financing, to allow business owners better management of their cash flow during this period.
Meanwhile, RHB Insurance’s SME policyholders are offered instalment payment through the premium instalment scheme and premium discount through the premium relief scheme.
