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KUALA LUMPUR – Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) aims to assist a total of 85,000 micro-entrepreneurs this year in efforts to restore business capacity affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent floods.
BSN chief business officer Mujibburrahman Abd Rashid said of the total, 25,000 entrepreneurs are expected to be assisted through the Semarak Niaga Keluarga Malaysia Scheme (SemarakNiaga), while another 60,000 entrepreneurs would be receiving benefits through digital matching grants.
“We have seen micro-enterprises as one of the earliest sectors to recover after all economic sectors were opened and interstate travel restrictions were lifted.
“I believe that more micro-entrepreneurs need help to boost their business back to pre-pandemic levels or better than ever before,” he told Bernama in a special interview recently.
Last year, BSN assisted 88,000 micro-entrepreneurs through a combination of previous financing schemes namely Prihatin, Penjana and Pemerkasa, as well as digital matching grants.
Regarding SemarakNiaga, Mujibburrahman said applications can be made from this month with the eligibility criteria being that the applicant is a micro-entrepreneur, whose business is a sole proprietorship, partnership, or private limited business owned by a Malaysian citizen.
The company must also be registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia or local authorities and have been in operation for not less than six months, he said.
As an institution mandated by the Finance Ministry to assist the country’s micro-entrepreneur sector, BSN offers this financing at a rate of 3.5%, much more competitive compared to other financial institutions, which on average offer double-digit interest rates.
“Besides that, BSN also reduces the need for documentation to facilitate applicants. I am confident that SemarakNiaga will receive a very encouraging response,” he said.
The SemarakNiaga programme, which involves a financing package with a total value of RM40 billion, was announced by Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz when presenting Budget 2022 in Parliament on October 29 last year.
Under SemarakNiaga, micro-credit financing worth almost RM1.8 billion will be provided through various agencies such as BSN, Tekun, Agrobank, Bank Rakyat, and Bank Negara Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Mujibburrahman said BSN remained committed to strengthening its mandate in ensuring Malaysians had comprehensive banking access, especially in rural and remote areas in Sabah and Sarawak through Mobile Bank Branch (MBB) initiative.
He said through MBB, the rural community was able to have access to various banking services such as cash withdrawal transactions through automatic teller machines, account opening with BSN debit card, cash savings, purchase of BSN premium savings certificate, bill payments, utility bills, and top-ups.
CBB BSN Sarawak started operations on July 15 last year in Sg Asap and Sebauh, while CBB BSN Sabah started operations on October 12 in Pitas, Paitan, Sook, Nabawan, Kalabakan and Tungku.
“The response received is very encouraging. The total deposit transactions received from CBB Sarawak and CBB Sabah until December 9, 2021, stood at RM235,554 involving 1,548 transactions.
“We expect an increase in net deposit growth for 2022 of 12% from banking activities through CBB,” he said.
He explained that the target, however, depended on the current situation of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as further instructions by the National Security Council as well as local authorities.
Mujibburrahman added that as at November 30 last year, the total number of BSN depositors stood at 9.11 million. – Bernama, January 4, 2022
