KUALA LUMPUR, 30 December – Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Berhad (CGC) launched the Special Assistance Scheme (SAS-i), a direct financing facility aimed at providing financial assistance to their existing customers affected by natural disaster.
The SAS-i was launched as a proactive effort by CGC to assist their customers to recover and resume their business operations soon after the occurrence of any natural disasters such as floods, tsunami, earthquake and epidemics. This SAS-i financing facility will be made available to those who are in towns or districts that have been defined as a disaster area by the National Security Council, Prime Minister’s Department or deemed as a disaster area by CGC.
CGC’s President / Chief Executive Officer, Mohd Zamree Mohd Ishak said that the SAS-i is an initiative undertaken to alleviate the financial challenges likely to be faced by CGC customers in the event of a natural disaster. “This is where CGC will step in and ensure that our customers are able to overcome challenges and carry on with their businesses with our financing support. Given the current monsoon season, we would like our customers to be prepared for any eventualities,” added Zamree.
The financing provided under the SAS-i facility are for the purpose of working capital and/or asset acquisition, which means CGC’s customers can purchase assets for commercial use, replace or repair facilities damaged during a disaster and also for cash flow management to ensure that they are able to operate their business as usual soon after recovering from the natural disaster.
The SAS-i which is based on Commodity Murabahah concept and is Syariah-compliant, provides financing which range from RM20,000 to RM200,000 with a financing tenure of up to five (5) years including moratorium period during the first six (6) months with profit servicing only. All installments are to be fully serviced in the subsequent months. The financing rate charged under the SAS-i is 5.80% per annum.
This direct financing facility shall be made available to all existing customers of CGC who fulfils the terms and conditions specified under the SAS-i. For more information on this scheme, CGC customers may approach any of its branches nearest to them. CGC operates through a network of 16 branches nationwide. They can also call CGC’s Client Service Centre at 03-7880-0088 or email [email protected] or visit www.cgc.com.my.
Previously, CGC had participated in several special schemes initiated by Bank Negara Malaysia to assist Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) affected by natural disasters or epidemics. In 2003, CGC managed the Special Relief Guarantee Fund (SRGF) which was launched to assist SMEs affected by the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the SRGF-2 in 2007 as well as the Special Relief Facility in 2015 for SMEs affected by floods.
Since inception in 1972, CGC has availed more than 430,000 financing to 315,000 SMEs valued over RM56 billion. For 2015, CGC targets to provide 8,000 financing to SMEs valued at RM3.2 billion.