JOHOR BARU: Another RM200mil has been approved to help micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) hard hit by Covid-19 and the recent floods, the government announced.

       Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said the additional fund would add to the RM200mil initially approved in December.

       “I received many complaints on the delay in disbursement but actually, the initial RM200mil has been completely given out and it was not enough.

       “I want to thank Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob for his concern for these businesses and for the RM400mil approved to help them,” he told reporters after attending Uda Holdings Bhd’s back-to-school programme at Angsana Mall here yesterday.

       On Feb 9, Ismail Sabri announced a RM3,000 one-off grant through Tekun Nasional, for micro and informal businesses affected by the recent floods with the initiative expected to benefit 15,000 such businesses.

       He said under the Informal and Micro Financing Scheme (SPIM), borrowers could take up interest-free loans of up to RM10,000.

       Affected SMEs can seek interest-free loans of up to RM100,000 from the SME Emergency Fund.

       Borrowers under both categories would be given five years to service their loans as well as a 12-month moratorium. Noh said so far, about 13,600 such businesses applied for the one-off assistance.

       “I urge more enterprises affected by the recent floods to apply for the assistance as they may face difficulty restarting their businesses after that.

       “The condition is simple. They only need to show proof that they were involved in the floods without having to produce bank accounts, CTOS or CCRIS (central reference information system) information.

       “We are targeting to start paying out the grant by March,” he added.