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SPRING Singapore Unveils S$2 Billion Loan Scheme for SMEs
SME Working Capital Loan: From 1 June 2016, SPRING Singapore will provide SMEs in Singapore with unsecured loans of up to S$300,000 to address their growth-financing and cash flow needs.
More help for SMEs
Introduced in Budget 2016, the new SME Working Capital Loan aims to help Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) grow and restructure their businesses amidst this period of slow economic growth. “The objective is to help viable SMEs continue meeting their cash flow needs, and stay on the course in their upgrading journey,” explained Ms Chew Mok Lee, Assistant Chief Executive of SPRING Singapore.
Through this loan programme, SMEs can look forward to greater financial assistance – with unsecured loans of up to S$300,000 each. The loans will be offered through 12 participating financial institutions, and SPRING will co-share 50% of loan default risks with them. SPRING expects the scheme to catalyse more than S$2 billion of loans for SMEs over the next three years.
Targeting common issues of small-scale businesses
According to the Singapore Business Federation's (SBF) 2015/2016 National Business Survey, more local SMEs are facing financial issues such as rising cost of bank loans and difficulties in renewing financing. The survey also found that close to three in five companies have plans to expand their businesses this year, in areas such as employee training and development as well as technology deployment for productivity improvements.
The loan scheme will help these companies continue growing their businesses despite the slowing economy. "SMEs, by virtue of their scale, often face obstacles obtaining credit from banks and financial institutions," said SBF Chief Executive Officer Ho Meng Kit.
“The SME Working Capital Loan offers a welcome relief for some of these SMEs, enabling them to address their immediate financial concerns as they look for growth opportunities,” he elaborated.
Eligibility
To be eligible, an SME must be registered and operating in Singapore. The company should also have a minimum of 30% local shareholding, and either a group annual sales turnover of not more than S$100 million or group employment size of not more than 200 employees.
Interested SMEs can visit SPRING Singapore's website http://www.spring.gov.sg/Growing-Business/Loan/Pages/SME-Working-Capital-Loan.aspx> to find out more.
SME Working Capital Loan in a Nutshell
Note: Applications are subject to banks’ credit approval