Small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) loans have been on the rise and account for about 40 per cent of the total business loans of financial institutions in June this year.
Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said: “In 1999, SMEs loans accounted for 26 per cent of the total business loans but now in mid-2004, it’s about 40 per cent.”
She said various measures taken by the government had produced significant results in the area of SMEs’ access to financing.
She added that the National SME Development Council, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at its first meeting last Friday, had also decided to establish a National SME Database and outlined more development programmes for SMEs.
According to Zeti, Bank Negara was committed to assisting SMEs in their financing needs in line with the government’s strategy to diversify the country’s economic base.
