- Joined
- Jul 24, 2008
- Messages
- 33,627
- Points
- 0
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published June 2, 2009
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Decline in government-backed business loans
<TABLE class=storyLinks border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Email this article</TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Print article </TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
THE number of government-backed business loans may have fallen for the first time since they were dished out last December.
Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Manpower Lee Yi Shyan said that 993 loans totalling $567.7 million were approved in the first three weeks of May.
In April, a record 1,834 loans worth $1.06 billion were approved. Most of these loans were given out to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 'The latest few weeks' number shows that there is some moderation,' Mr Lee said. 'This could reflect a slowing down of business demand in terms of orders, and it could also mean that the banking sector has restored its confidence.'
Mr Lee was speaking at a ground-breaking ceremony of Sheng Siong Supermarket's new headquarters and distribution centre.
He described the situation as a stabilisation of the credit markets.
Since December, there have been 4,684 loans with a total value of $2.5 billion taken up, exceeding the total loan value over the last two years - $1.03 billion in 2008 and $682 million in 2007.
More than 90 per cent of the loans have gone to SMEs, with close to 70 per cent going to smaller businesses with less than $5 million in annual sales turnover.<SCRIPT language=javascript> <!-- // Check for Mac. var strAgent; var blnMac; strAgent = navigator.userAgent; strAgent.indexOf('Mac') > 0 ? blnMac = true:blnMac = false; if (blnMac == true) { document.write('
'); } //--> </SCRIPT> <TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=300 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle>
<!-- AdSpace --><IFRAME height=250 marginHeight=0 src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/html.ng/site=tbto&sec=btointhenews&cat1=bnews&cat2=btointhenewsart&size=300X250" frameBorder=0 width=300 marginWidth=0 scrolling=no bordercolor="#000000"><script language='JavaScript1.1' src='http://ads.asia1.com.sg/js.ng/Params.richmedia=yes&site=tbto&sec=btointhenews&cat1=bnews&cat2=btointhenewsart&size=300X250'></script><noscript>
</noscript></IFRAME><!-- /AdSpace-->
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Decline in government-backed business loans
<TABLE class=storyLinks border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Email this article</TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right></TD><TD>Print article </TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right></TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>THE number of government-backed business loans may have fallen for the first time since they were dished out last December.
Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Manpower Lee Yi Shyan said that 993 loans totalling $567.7 million were approved in the first three weeks of May.
In April, a record 1,834 loans worth $1.06 billion were approved. Most of these loans were given out to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 'The latest few weeks' number shows that there is some moderation,' Mr Lee said. 'This could reflect a slowing down of business demand in terms of orders, and it could also mean that the banking sector has restored its confidence.'
Mr Lee was speaking at a ground-breaking ceremony of Sheng Siong Supermarket's new headquarters and distribution centre.
He described the situation as a stabilisation of the credit markets.
Since December, there have been 4,684 loans with a total value of $2.5 billion taken up, exceeding the total loan value over the last two years - $1.03 billion in 2008 and $682 million in 2007.
More than 90 per cent of the loans have gone to SMEs, with close to 70 per cent going to smaller businesses with less than $5 million in annual sales turnover.<SCRIPT language=javascript> <!-- // Check for Mac. var strAgent; var blnMac; strAgent = navigator.userAgent; strAgent.indexOf('Mac') > 0 ? blnMac = true:blnMac = false; if (blnMac == true) { document.write('
'); } //--> </SCRIPT> <TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=300 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle>
<!-- AdSpace --><IFRAME height=250 marginHeight=0 src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/html.ng/site=tbto&sec=btointhenews&cat1=bnews&cat2=btointhenewsart&size=300X250" frameBorder=0 width=300 marginWidth=0 scrolling=no bordercolor="#000000"><script language='JavaScript1.1' src='http://ads.asia1.com.sg/js.ng/Params.richmedia=yes&site=tbto&sec=btointhenews&cat1=bnews&cat2=btointhenewsart&size=300X250'></script><noscript>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
