The Government has approved a total of 7,266 applications for RM1.366 billion in loans under the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) initiative of the National Economic Regeneration Plan (PENJANA) as of March 19.
PENJANA, which was launched on June 5, 2020, is a timely initiative by Putrajaya to restore the country’s economy, hence helping the people to deal with the economic crisis during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Finance Minister, Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the Government had allocated RM2 billion under the programme, which gave priority to SMEs that had never received a loan from a bank before.
The Bumiputera Relief Financing (BRF) fund introduced by Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd. (PUNB) had been channelled to 749 SMEs, involving a total of RM226.8 million, compared with 675 SMEs with a total of RM195.2 million as of the previous week.
For the SME Soft Loan Fund operated by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), a total of RM11.82 billion has been approved and will benefit 24,921 SMEs.
The funding includes the Special Relief Facility (SRF), the Automation and Digitalisation Facility (ADF), All Economic Sectors (AES) Facility and Agrofood Facility (AF) funds.
“Even though the SRF fund has been fully dispensed, SMEs can still apply for available financing schemes through BNM funds, such as the ADF, AES and AF.
SMEs can also obtain other financing through the imsme.com.my platform, which can help match the required financing with various fund providers for SMEs,” Tengku Zafrul said.
Meanwhile, the PENJANA Tourism Financing scheme had approved 308 applications out of a total of 626 applications, with a total funding of RM61.9 million as of March 26.
“On March 26, the Technical and Digital Consumption for SMEs and Companies at the Middle Level (MTC), a total of RM55.5 million was channelled to 12,476 businesses in the form of grants and loans for subscriptions to digitisation services,” Tengku Zafrul said.
As for the Cultural Economy Development Agency (CENDANA) initiative, a total of RM2.43 million was channelled to 441 recipients comprising artists, collectives and organisations actively involved in the Malaysian arts and culture sector.
“Creative industry activators are advised to use this opportunity provided in producing their work. All industry players involved can apply for assistance from related agencies via www.mycreative.com.my and www.cendana.com.my,” he concluded.
