KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Banking Group has approved more than RM500 million Special Relief Facility (SRF) applications to help alleviate the short-term cash flow difficulties faced by Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The SRF is part of Bank Negara Malaysia's funds for SMEs with an allocation of RM5 billion.
"The SRF is meant to assist SMEs adversely affected by Covid-19 sustain business operations, safeguard jobs, as well as support economic growth," RHB group managing director Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli said in a statement.
RHB has approved more than 700 SRF applications from SMEs out of the more than 1,500 applications received so far, with a total facility amount in excess of RM500 million.
Khairussaleh said the highest number of approvals was from the wholesale and retail trade sectors, at 31 per cent with a total facility amount of RM155 million.
This is followed by 16 per cent from the manufacturing sector at RM79 million, while the rest are mainly for SMEs from the various services sectors.
According to RHB, eligible SMEs can obtain working capital financing of up to RM1 million at a financing rate of 3.5 per cent per annum, inclusive of any guarantee fee, with a maximum tenure of up to 5.5 years, including the six-month moratorium period.
The facility is available under term financing and has up to 80 per cent guarantee coverage by Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd or Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan Bhd.
Khairussaleh said throughout the Movement Control Order (MCO) period, business owners can submit applications for the SRF through RHB SME Online financing platform which is accessible by both new and existing customers.
He said currently, almost half of the SRF approvals were those with new financing relationships with RHB.
"We currently see an encouraging 36 per cent 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.
"In the days and weeks ahead, we will also be proactively engaging our SME customers through Webinars or Zoom to conduct talks on SRF applications as well as provide advice on financial management during this most challenging period," he added.
Source: New Straits Times