<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Govt-backed loans double in a month
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Total of 2,781 loans approved since December, with 90% going to SMEs </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Francis Chan
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Mr Lee receiving a copy of the Regulatory And Business Guide For Start-Ups from Ms Juthika Ramanathan, CEO of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, at yesterday's launch of the guide targeted at aspiring entrepreneurs and new enterprises. -- ST PHOTO: SHAHRIYA YAHAYA
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE crippling credit freeze is thawing fast, judging by the latest figures on government-backed business loans here.
The total number of loans granted under various schemes unveiled in recent months doubled in the space of just one month from Feb 28 to March 31.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>SPEED OF APPROVALS VITAL
'What we need to do is to work with them to raise the speed of processing so that we can make the loans quicker and more available to SMEs.'
Minister of State for Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan, on financial institutions administering government-backed loans
RELATED LINKS
<!-- Audio --><!-- Video --><!-- PDF -->
GOVERNMENT-BACKED LOANS APPROVED
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The news gets even better.
Most of the loans went to the crucial small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, said lead enterprise development agency Spring Singapore.
The figures from Spring show SMEs accounting for 90 per cent of the 2,781 government-backed loans approved since the schemes kicked in last December.
Last month, a staggering 1,415 loans amounting to a total value of $764.1 million were approved.
Yesterday, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan said the string of measures, announced in November and January, is helping to spur lending, especially to smaller firms.
'I am pleased to note that our risk-sharing initiatives are working well and SME financing is healthy,' he said.
Mr Lee, who is also the Minister of State for Manpower, assured smaller business owners at the third Start-up Conference at NTUC Auditorium yesterday that government-backed loan schemes were readily available to them.
'Close to 70 per cent of the loans have, in fact, gone to small businesses with less than $5 million in annual sales turnover,' he said.
After the government-backed financing schemes were introduced, some bosses had lamented that only larger firms seemed to be getting the loans.
In November, the Government unveiled a $2.3 billion government-backed financing package to help local businesses ride out the global economic slump.
A central plank of the initiatives involves the Government taking on more risk in bank loans, as well as helping out with the type of financing used in international trade.
As part of Budget 2009, the Government made another $5.8 billion available through the Special Risk-Sharing Initiative, which was designed to get banks to lend to cash-strapped firms.
This additional government capital would create an estimated $11 billion worth of loans for businesses here.
Financial institutions participating in administering the government-backed loans have reported higher approval and disbursement rates of these loans since January.
In fact, institutions that previously did not participate in the schemes, such as Citi Singapore, are now enrolling to take part.
Mr Lee, however, believes it is not the number of lenders, but the speed of loan approvals that is most critical.
'On the various programmes we have somewhere between 10 and 14, 15 financial institutions. We think the numbers are sufficient,' he said.
'What we need to do is to work with them to raise the speed of processing so that we can make the loans quicker and more available to SMEs. So it's not a matter of the number of financial institutions in the programmes, but rather how well they interface with SMEs and make loans available to them.'
The institutions have been working closely with government agencies like Spring to ensure the effectiveness of the programmes, added Mr Lee.
The new Bridging Loan Programme (BLP) again accounted for the largest share of the monthly increase.
In February, 182 bridging loans worth $165 million were approved. But last month, 610 bridging loans amounting to some $500 million were approved.
Commenting on the demand for the BLP, Mr Henry Lee, a financial adviser under the Financial Facilitator Programme (FFP), said: 'The Bridging Loan Programme is popular because it provides the much-needed working capital in these challenging times.'
According to Spring, SMEs that are looking to apply for the government financing schemes can approach the Enterprise Development Centres and the EnterpriseOne Business Information Services for help through the FFP.
Yesterday, Mr Lee Yi Shyan was also the guest of honour at the launch of the second edition of the Regulatory And Business Guide For Start-Ups, an information-packed resource for aspiring entrepreneurs and new enterprises.
The launch was jointly organised by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority and Action Community for Entrepreneurship.
[email protected] <!-- end of for each --><!-- Current Ratings : start --><!-- Current Ratings : end --><!-- vbbintegration : start -->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Total of 2,781 loans approved since December, with 90% going to SMEs </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Francis Chan
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Mr Lee receiving a copy of the Regulatory And Business Guide For Start-Ups from Ms Juthika Ramanathan, CEO of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, at yesterday's launch of the guide targeted at aspiring entrepreneurs and new enterprises. -- ST PHOTO: SHAHRIYA YAHAYA
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE crippling credit freeze is thawing fast, judging by the latest figures on government-backed business loans here.
The total number of loans granted under various schemes unveiled in recent months doubled in the space of just one month from Feb 28 to March 31.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>SPEED OF APPROVALS VITAL
'What we need to do is to work with them to raise the speed of processing so that we can make the loans quicker and more available to SMEs.'
Minister of State for Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan, on financial institutions administering government-backed loans
RELATED LINKS
<!-- Audio --><!-- Video --><!-- PDF -->
<!-- Photo Gallery -->
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The news gets even better.
Most of the loans went to the crucial small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, said lead enterprise development agency Spring Singapore.
The figures from Spring show SMEs accounting for 90 per cent of the 2,781 government-backed loans approved since the schemes kicked in last December.
Last month, a staggering 1,415 loans amounting to a total value of $764.1 million were approved.
Yesterday, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan said the string of measures, announced in November and January, is helping to spur lending, especially to smaller firms.
'I am pleased to note that our risk-sharing initiatives are working well and SME financing is healthy,' he said.
Mr Lee, who is also the Minister of State for Manpower, assured smaller business owners at the third Start-up Conference at NTUC Auditorium yesterday that government-backed loan schemes were readily available to them.
'Close to 70 per cent of the loans have, in fact, gone to small businesses with less than $5 million in annual sales turnover,' he said.
After the government-backed financing schemes were introduced, some bosses had lamented that only larger firms seemed to be getting the loans.
In November, the Government unveiled a $2.3 billion government-backed financing package to help local businesses ride out the global economic slump.
A central plank of the initiatives involves the Government taking on more risk in bank loans, as well as helping out with the type of financing used in international trade.
As part of Budget 2009, the Government made another $5.8 billion available through the Special Risk-Sharing Initiative, which was designed to get banks to lend to cash-strapped firms.
This additional government capital would create an estimated $11 billion worth of loans for businesses here.
Financial institutions participating in administering the government-backed loans have reported higher approval and disbursement rates of these loans since January.
In fact, institutions that previously did not participate in the schemes, such as Citi Singapore, are now enrolling to take part.
Mr Lee, however, believes it is not the number of lenders, but the speed of loan approvals that is most critical.
'On the various programmes we have somewhere between 10 and 14, 15 financial institutions. We think the numbers are sufficient,' he said.
'What we need to do is to work with them to raise the speed of processing so that we can make the loans quicker and more available to SMEs. So it's not a matter of the number of financial institutions in the programmes, but rather how well they interface with SMEs and make loans available to them.'
The institutions have been working closely with government agencies like Spring to ensure the effectiveness of the programmes, added Mr Lee.
The new Bridging Loan Programme (BLP) again accounted for the largest share of the monthly increase.
In February, 182 bridging loans worth $165 million were approved. But last month, 610 bridging loans amounting to some $500 million were approved.
Commenting on the demand for the BLP, Mr Henry Lee, a financial adviser under the Financial Facilitator Programme (FFP), said: 'The Bridging Loan Programme is popular because it provides the much-needed working capital in these challenging times.'
According to Spring, SMEs that are looking to apply for the government financing schemes can approach the Enterprise Development Centres and the EnterpriseOne Business Information Services for help through the FFP.
Yesterday, Mr Lee Yi Shyan was also the guest of honour at the launch of the second edition of the Regulatory And Business Guide For Start-Ups, an information-packed resource for aspiring entrepreneurs and new enterprises.
The launch was jointly organised by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority and Action Community for Entrepreneurship.
[email protected] <!-- end of for each --><!-- Current Ratings : start --><!-- Current Ratings : end --><!-- vbbintegration : start -->
