AMBANK SET TO APPROVE RM7b LOANS TO SMEs
Lender expects to approve RM7b loans to small and medium businesses by March 31 next year
AMBANK Group expects to approve RM7 billion loans to more than 1,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and related businesses in the year ending March 31 2018.
Its chief executive officer Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir said the group was committed to assisting businesses to grow, particularly companies with a minimum turnover of RM150 million.
“Together with Credit Guarantee Corp Malaysia Bhd (CGC), we are rolling out many initiatives to support SMEs. We have disbursed more than RM1 billion worth of loans to SMEs over the last two years,” he said after launching the AmBank BizRACE here yesterday.
Sulaiman said with the formation of the its new business division early this year, the bank now has a focused team that served the needs of SMEs.
“As of now, we have marked accumulated loan approvals amounting to RM3 billion for the first half of this year. We would probably target another RM4 billion before (2018 financial year),” he said.
He said the figure was healthy and in line with Malaysia’s economic growth, which was primarily driven by mixed sectors like retail, manufacturing, exportoriented businesses and trading.
SMEs make up 97 per cent of businesses in Malaysia and contribute nearly 37 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Sulaiman said AmBank aspired to become among the top four SME banks in Malaysia by 2020.
The bank’s retail SME segment currently contributes about 10 per cent to the group’s overall revenue.
“We want to double it to 25 per cent by 2020 or earlier. In the long-run, we foresee our SME segment reaching about one third of the bank’s overall business,” he said.
Sulaiman said there were a lot of government initiatives to encourage SME growth, such as tax incentives, the formation of the Digital Free Trade Zone and funding for automation.
“SMEs in Malaysia needs a lot of support, not only in terms of financing, but also business advice,” he said.
Meanwhile, the AmBank BizRACE is sponsored by AmMetLife Insurance Bhd, Credit Guarantee Corp Malaysia Bhd, Digi Telecommunications, Human Resources Development Fund and K-PINTAR.
Interested SMEs can register at ambankbizclub.com to participate. Due to overwhelming response, the deadline for registration has been extended November 29.