Moratorium extension and targeted bank assistance a timely move

PETALING JAYA: Lauding the moratorium extension and targeted bank assistance as timely, businesses say more measures should be introduced to help businesses to stimulate the economy.

Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai said the initiatives would provide a much-needed breather to affected individuals and businesses.

 

However, it also called for a moratorium to be extended to SMEs in need of additional financial relief.

“The process for the restructuring of loan repayments should be made simple and seamless allowing the industry to focus on rebuilding.

“SMEs have little negotiation clout with their bankers, so we hope the restructuring process could be facilitated well,” he said.

FMM has called on the government to offer restructuring of repayments for leasing of machinery, and provide a six-month moratorium on all of the government’s financing schemes under the Penjana initiative.

Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) SMEs committee chairman Koong Lin Loong said the initiative served its purpose in offering help to those who were affected.

“However, banks have to make it easier to require businesses to submit relevant documents,” he said.

SME Association president Datuk Michael Kang hoped there would be a mechanism for the banks to handle all the requests, as the loan moratorium was expected to benefit up to three million people.

“The banks would not be able to handle that amount of people. Maybe they could come up with a mechanism online to accept the individual’s requests,” he said.

The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) said that while the extension looks good on paper, it is troublesome in terms of administration and implementation.

Its executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan said borrowers would have to take time off to go to the bank, which would have to cope with more customers.

It would be better to relook at the situation and extend the moratorium generally, he said.

“The issue of trying to prevent abuse should be at the back of the government’s mind. The borrowers will still have to pay back their loans one way or another,” he said.

National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM) president Tan Sri Ter Leong Yap said the announcement on the loan moratorium would help eliminate uncertainty on the matter.

“The (announcement) is deemed crucial to support economic recovery as we emerge from the pandemic,” he said.

Research economist Mazlina Abdul Rahman said the moratorium will be helpful for some sectors particularly tourism-related.

“The Malaysian economy is slowly recovering as reflected in some of its macro indicators. Hence, this is a better option than to continue providing the moratorium on a blanket approach,” she said.

30 Jul 2020