Bank Rakyat and SME Bank have discussed the process of restructuring the loan repayments of entrepreneurs affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said.
“Many entrepreneurs came to see me and informed that they could not repay their loans even though the banks provided a moratorium. Therefore, I have discussed with these two financial institutions to restructure the loan repayments.
“This way, we can assist businesses to recover, especially when the country’s borders have reopened,” Bernama quoted Noh as saying.
On 2 March, SME reported that the government had allocated RM196 billion for the purpose of assisting SMEs in weathering the impact of Covid-19.
According to Noh, the initiatives would be provided through various stimulus packages to help ease SMEs’ burden during the pandemic.
“The measures have been and are being implemented through 10 comprehensive economic packages, which the government included in the 2021 and 2022 Budget,” he had said.
In another development, Noh noted that his ministry will focus on assisting entrepreneurs in the tourism industry, including tour bus operators and homestay owners, as foreign travellers can now enter the country for tourism.
“As they had not been operating for two years, they need time to make repayments. They also need to repair their vehicles and homestays in order to kick-start their businesses.”
Therefore, the restructuring of the loan repayments would assist these entrepreneurs in resuming their business and enable them to repay their loans according to the schedule.
Meanwhile, Noh said the ministry had allocated RM50 million to assist micro-entrepreneurs affected by the floods last year, RM100mil for SMEs as well as RM200mil through informal and micro financing schemes.
“The ministry will continue to be concerned with the problems faced by entrepreneurs because they are the ones that will help to revitalise the country’s economy.”
