Thursday, March 14, 2013

CGC Set To Guarantee RM2 Billion In New Loans This Year

PETALING JAYA, March 13 (Bernama) -- Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd (CGC) is confident of providing guarantee cover for RM2 billion in new loans this year.

Source from (The Star Online): http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/3/14/business/12833714&sec=business
Published: March 14, 2013

Source from (Business Times): http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/cgc/Article/
Published: March 14, 2013

Source from (Bernama): http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v7/bu/newsbusiness.php?id=934159
Published: March 14, 2013

Alliance Bank SME head K.Y. Lim (left) exchanging documents with CGC assistant general manager Kristine Ng. With them are Miller (left) and CGC managing director Datuk Wan Azhar Wan Ahmad.
Alliance Bank SME head K.Y. Lim (left) exchanging documents with 
CGC assistant general manager Kristine Ng. With them are Miller (left) 
and CGC managing director Datuk Wan Azhar Wan Ahmad.

Its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Wan Azhar Wan Ahmad said he was certain the corporation would surpass last year's loan figures, which was in excess of RM1 billion new loans, benefitting 3,000 customers.

"With the participation of five financial institutions, namely Alliance Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, OCBC Bank, RHB Bank and Public Bank, there will be more products in the pipeline for small and medium enterprises (SMEs)," he said to reporters at the signing of a strategic alliance agreement between CGC and Alliance Bank Bhd, here today.

Starting with a tranche size of RM50 million, the portfolio guarantee aims to assist small businesses by providing loans for working capital as well as asset acquisition.

CGC would be providing 70 per cent guarantee cover of the approved total principal amount taken by SMEs and would assist to verify the credibility of applicants in consultation with Alliance Bank, he said.

Wan Azhar said the minimum loan quantum under the portfolio guarantee is RM100,000 and the maximum is RM300,000 per SME customer at a fixed loan tenure of five years.

Applications can be made at any Alliance Bank branch nationwide under the Small Biz Express Scheme.

He said with pre-determined eligibility criteria, CGC has been able to provide approvals within three days upon receipt of the application from the participating financial institutions.

"The current approval rate is almost 90 per cent , which is relatively higher compared with our other schemes due to the efficiency of the process flow," said Wan Azhar.

Under this scheme, SMEs do not need collateral and track record, unlike commercial institutions, such as banks, that have to consider those risks, he said.

Wan Azhar hoped that once borrowers get into CGC guarantee scheme, they would be able to build their track record, and with this, they don't have to rely too much on government support.

"Our advantage is that CGC goes down to the smaller types of loan and the impact is greater in terms of the number of borrowers.

"Unlike commercial banks, our key performance indicators (KPI) are number-driven and more focused on the growth of SMEs to access financing. With the emergence of our scheme, it is designed to bring in the numbers," he said.

Creating access to these funds was the issue and not the fund availability which is in abundance currently, he added.

CGC was established in July 1972 to assist SMEs, especially those without or with inadequate collateral and track record to obtain credit facilities from financial institutions by providing guarantee cover on such facilities.

The corporation has cumulatively guaranteed more than 420,000 loans valued at close to RM51 billion since its establishment.

-- BERNAMA

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