SME Bank, an agency under the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC) has offered SME Relief Program PEMULIH (SRP PEMULIH) starting from July 2021 until December 2021 to 4,142 of its customers a with financing value of RM5.8 bill with phase two focusing on SMEs from the tourism and public transport sectors that have received a 12-month moratorium extension from October 2021 to September 2022 and an extension of the original financing period up to 36 months. Assistance is provided in the form of deferment on principal payments and financing profit rates.

Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives, Tan Sri Noh Haji Omar said, SME Bank started offering SRP 1.0 after the six-months automatic moratorium period ended last year. A total of 3,084 of SME Bank’s customers with a financing value of RM4.1 bill received the assistance. Following that, SME Bank offered SRP 2.0 from October 2020 to September 2021 as an ongoing support for its customers. This targeted assistance has benefited a total of 311 customers from the retail, services, food and beverage and public transport sectors with a financing value of RM248 million. This SRP assistance has enabled SME entrepreneurs to focus on redeveloping their business without the cash flow burden.”

Tan Sri Noh added, “Apart from the SRP and in line with the Government's various initiatives to assist SME entrepreneurs, SME Bank has approved financing under the Special Relief Fund (SRF) amounting RM506.3 million, PENJANA Tourism Fund (PTF) amounting RM7.7 million and Targeted Relief and Recovery Facility Financing (TRRF) with RM255.7 million. These efforts have assisted 1,798 SME entrepreneurs.”

Meanwhile, driven by the mandate to nurture and develop the country's SME entrepreneurs, SME Bank has played its "Beyond Financing" role significantly. For example, SME Bank has granted 100% rental exemption for another seven months from June 2021 to December 2021 to 251 tenants for the 373 factory lots at the SME Bank’s Entrepreneur Premises Complex. This initiative has provided total cost savings of RM6.6 million to the tenants. For the record, deferments and deductions worth RM6.1 million were given to the tenants from April 2020 to March 2021.

SME Bank's SME development agenda continues with various activities being held. They include the Let's XCESS SME Bank engagement program which is currently being held in hybrid mode nationwide; Business Exports Program (BEP) in collaboration with various agencies; Upward Migration Program; TITAN Program which aims to create global SME entrepreneurs; SUKSES 4.0, a Reality TV program; CSR programs such as Y-Biz Challenge, 90-Days Biz Challenge, PENJANA Komuniti@SME Bank and ISHRAF Program for the Asnaf entrepreneurs who run micro-sized businesses and other initiatives.

The SRP PEMULIH Phase 2 Acceptance Letter Presentation Ceremony for ten SME Bank’s customers from the tourism and public transport sectors today was presented by the Minister of Finance, Yang Berhormat Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Yang Berhormat Dato’ Sri Hajah Nancy Shukri and Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC), Yang Berhormat Tan Sri Noh Haji Omar. Also present were MEDAC’s Deputy Minister, Yang Berhormat Muslimin Yahaya, MEDAC’s Secretary General, Dato' Suriani Dato' Ahmad, Secretary General of Treasury, Dato’ Asri Hamidon, MOTAC’s Secretary General, Datuk Wira Dr. Noor Zari Hamat, and SME Bank’s Chairman, Dato' Seri Nazir Ariff.