‘Can SME Bank disburse the loans for Chinese MSME? BSN did a better job’

Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng has raised doubts over SME Bank’s ability to disburse the RM 50 million loan meant for Chinese micro small and medium enterprises (MSME).

The RM50 million is meant to support business growth by providing financing for working capital or capital expenditure.

“Even though the SME Bank claims to have 27 branches throughout the country in its online web page, there are only 17 individual branches listed including its headquarters.

“The remaining 10 are merely duplicate addresses of the SME Bank headquarters or its regional offices.

“How can 17 branches adequately service 1.1 million MSMEs located from as far as Perlis or Kelantan to Sabah and Sarawak?

In comparison, Lim pointed out that Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) is better positioned to play the role.

“This job of facilitating the dedicated RM 50 million loan for Chinese MSME can be better handled by BSN with its nationwide chain of 387 branches, particularly the smaller towns in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.”

The DAP leader pointed out that BSN proved its ability in disbursing loans for Chinese MSME in 2019 and 2020.

“In 2019 and 2020, BSN had rapidly and efficiently disbursed the dedicated RM 50 million and RM100 million Chinese MSME loans respectively that were approved by the Ministry of Finance,” he said

“No complaints were received from Chinese MSMEs against BSN in obtaining these interest-free and collateral-free loans.

“Further, BSN had speedily disbursed these interest-free and collateral-free loans without imposing any additional extraneous conditions,” he added.