RHB Bank to grant RM31b SME financing by 2021
Published on: Thursday, April 25, 2019
KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Bank Bhd targets to grant RM31 billion in new and additional financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by 2021.
Group managing director Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli said this was part of the bank’s efforts to provide SMEs with easy access to financing, in line with the government’s push to spur greater SME economic participation.
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The bank approved RM7.2 billion last year to support the growth of more than 4,000 SMEs in Malaysia.
“In the next three years, we target to grant more than RM31 billion in new and additional financing which will benefit approximately 18,000 SMEs,” he told reporters after the bank’s annual general meeting here Wednesday.
Khairussaleh said the bank aims to increase its share in the SME segment from fourth place, with 9.06 per cent market share as at Jan 31, 2019, to third place soon.
To date, RHB has connected more than 100,000 SMEs through its cash management solutions and SME e-Solution, which include payroll and accounting solutions. Throughout the SME ecosystem, the group is poised to connect to 15,000 new SMEs in 2019.
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Khairussalleh said RHB Bank would remained conservative on its projection of loans growth.
“As an industry, we know that loans growth will probably be around five to six per cent region. While we think that we can grow well in the mortgage and SME segments, there are also challenges in other segments such as the corporate side.
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“So, on a composite basis, we will maintain our five per cent growth although we believe we can grow in the right segments, namely mortgage and SME,” he said, adding that RHB Bank’s approval rate for mortgage loans is currently at 75 per cent.
Khairussalleh said the group have several initial public offerings (IPOs) in the pipeline for this year.
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