RM1.36b approved for Penjana SME financing scheme as of March 12

 

7,205 applications for the Penjana Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Financing programme have been approved as of March 12, involving a total loan value of RM1.36 billion.

Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the government allocated RM2 billion under this programme that prioritised SMEs which had never obtained bank loans previously.

Meanwhile, approved Wage Subsidy Programme (WSP) 1.0 applications had reached a value of RM12.84 billion as of the same date, he said when presenting the 46th Implementation and Coordination Unit Between National Agencies (Laksana) report on Facebook today.

As for WSP 2.0 under the Prihatin Supplementary Initiative Package (Kita Prihatin), he said RM1.09 billion had been channeled to 72,531 employers as of March 12 to enable them to continue operating and retain the jobs of 619,821 employees.

Meanwhile, for the SME soft loan funds administered by Bank Negara Malaysia, Zafrul said the total number of applications approved by local banks and accepted by SMEs was RM11.75 billion as of that date, benefitting 24,819 SMEs.

This amount includes the Special Relief Facility, Automation and Digitalisation Facility, All-Economic Sector Facility, and Agrofood Facility funds.

Zafrul said the Bumiputera Relief Financing (BRF) fund had been channeled to 670 SMEs involving a total of RM193.1 million as of March 12.

The government is providing BRF totalling RM200 million through Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd to assist bumiputera SMEs affected by Covid-19, with funding of between RM100,000 and RM1 million for them.

- Bernama