The banking system extended RM74 billion in loans to 125,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) over the past two years, Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said.
She said that loans given to the SMEs had increased over the past five years. In 1999, loans to the SMEs formed 26 per cent of the total loans extended to businesses.
"Up to mid-2004, it accounted for 40 per cent of total loans to businesses," Zeti told a seminar on "Transforming SMEs: Staying Competitive in the New Economy" in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Zeti said that last year, Bank Negara established the Special SME Unit, which will evolve into a central coordinating unit covering all support to SMEs. Since 2003, the unit has received over 2,500 enquiries.
She said 391 calls made to the unit were from SMEs experiencing problems.
"More than half have been solved, while 35 per cent are in the process of being resolved," she said.
