KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2– The value of the moratorium on loan repayments by financial institutions stood at RM78.14 billion as at Aug 21, 2020, said Minister of Finance Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz today.
Out of this figure, a total of RM27.35 billion was utilised by the business sector while RM50.79 billion was utilised by the rakyat.
This moratorium came into effect on April 1, 2020 and will end on Sept 30, 2020.
“For those who still need a moratorium extension and targeted bank assistance after September 30, the banking institutions are ready to help the borrowers.
“Those who are still affected can start contacting the respective banks to discuss and apply for repayment flexibility,” he said in the 19th LAKSANA report on the implementation of the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (PRIHATIN) and National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA).
As at Aug 21, 2020, the number of applications that had been approved by local banks and accepted by the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for SME Soft Loan Funds was RM10.2 billion which will benefitted 22,322 SMEs.
Tengku Zafrul said the amount was an increase from RM10.1 billion last week which benefitted 22,143 SMEs.
He said the amount included the Special Relief Facility, Automation and Digitalisation Facility, All-Economic Sector Facility, and Agrofood Facility.
“Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God), the Special Relief Facility has been fully utilised and over 21,000 SMEs have utilised this facility which has helped save more than 400,000 jobs.
“The SMEs can still apply for various other financing such as funds from financial institutions and BNM Fund such as Automation and Digitalisation Facility, All-Economic Sector Facility and Agrofood Facility,” he added.
Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said a total of 4.18 million recipients had successfully received payments credited into their banks accounts for the Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) under PRIHATIN totalling RM2.7 billion.
The BSH recipients who qualified but whose payments could not be credited into their bank accounts can claim the aid at any Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) branch until Dec 31, 2020.
“I would like to remind the public that the BSH 2020 Appeal Application is open until Sept 6, 2020,” said Tengku Zafrul.
For the i-Lestari withdrawal scheme under the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), the total cumulative withdrawal between April and August 2020 was RM7.48 billion involving 4.57 million recipients compared with RM7.4 billion with 4.55 million recipients last week.
Until Aug 21, 2020, a total of RM10.3 billion of wage subsidies had been approved under the Wage Subsidy Programme, benefitting more than 2.61 million employees.
“Out of this amount, a total of RM8.9 billion has been successfully disbursed,” he added.
