The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, together with the banking sector, launched a new round of support measures to assist local small and medium-sized enterprises in navigating the current fast-changing market environment.
HKMA said that recent tensions in the Middle East have triggered significant fluctuations in international oil prices and fuelled greater uncertainties in the global economy, exacerbating the operational challenges faced by SMEs in some sectors.
In the light of this, the HKMA and the banking sector are introducing a new round of measures to assist SMEs in accessing bank financing, strengthening their business resilience and accelerating their upgrade and transformation.
The 18 participating banks in the Taskforce have further expanded the size of dedicated funds set aside in their loan portfolio for SMEs. The total amount has increased from HK$370 billion in October 2024 to over HK$450 billion at present, according to HKMA.
Meanwhile, especially for those in the transport and logistics, manufacturing, participating banks in the Taskforce will provide credit relief measures including flexible repayment arrangements, corresponding loan tenor extensions, and more options for trade facility extensions to alleviate corporates' cash flow pressure.
The banks will also introduce loans with flexible repayment for SMEs' transformation and deepen the use of fintech and data to assist SMEs in obtaining bank financing.
Since 2024, the HKMA and the banking sector have launched three rounds of SME support measures to assist SMEs in different industries to cope with uncertainties surrounding the external environment and challenges arising from economic transformation.
To date, these support measures have benefitted SMEs in over 89,000 cases, involving an aggregate credit limit of more than HK$209 billion, said HKMA.
𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓
