Bank Negara Malaysia details the assistance being given out to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as announced in the Budget 2024 by the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Having played an important role in the 2021 and 2022 budgets, the Central Bank said it continues to support priority segments of MSMEs to obtain financing at competitive rates.
During the budget, PM Anwar allocated a total of RM600 million to BNM, which selected facilities under BNM’s Fund for SMEs have been earmarked for four target segments namely, an RM200 million increase in allocation for the Micro Enterprises Facility to further support the financing needs of microentrepreneurs, of which RM50 million will be allocated for low-income microentrepreneurs under the iTEKAD initiative.
RM200 million under the All Economic Sectors Facility will be allocated to catalyse the provision of CAKNA 2, a contract financing facility for small contractors (G1-G4) by financial institutions. It aims to support the implementation of small-scale government projects (of contract value less than RM1.5 million). RM100 million under the Agrofood Facility will be allocated to support the national food security agenda by increasing domestic food supply and expanding import capacity.
RM100 million under the Low Carbon Transition Facility (LCTF) will be allocated to incentivise MSMEs to obtain sustainability and green certification for their business operations.
Overall, BNM said there are about RM8.4 billion is still available for MSMEs across all financing facilities under the BNM’s Fund for SMEs. These facilities are aligned with efforts to support the involvement of MSMEs in key national initiatives including the New Industrial Master Plan 2030, the National Energy Transition Roadmap, and other initiatives under Belanjawan 2024.
An additional RM25 million in grants will be allocated to support the expansion of the iTEKAD initiative and assist low-income microentrepreneurs. These funds will be matched with social finance funds such as donations (including corporate
social responsibility funds), zakat, and cash waqf.
Micro and SMEs wanting to know about the financing of iTEKAD and other social finance initiatives should visit bnm.gov.my/social-finance site to know more and apply based on the information provided above.
