Budget 2021: banks take responsibility for continuing to help customers through tough times

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 6): The various initiatives announced in the Government Budget for 2021 are welcomed by banks who say it remains expansive while maintaining targeted financial support and tax relief for affected vulnerable communities and businesses for the social, financial and economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 2021 Budget was formulated to ensure no one is left behind, they say, which also focuses on protecting livelihoods and revitalizing businesses to help Malaysia’s economic growth on the path to a sustained recovery.

During this difficult time, banks say they remain committed to actively engaging and assisting their customers by providing additional assistance, such as the Expanded Specific Reimbursement Assistance Program.

Below are the opinions of bankers on the national budget:

Datuk Abdul Farid Alias
Maybank Group
President and CEO / President of the Malaysian Banking Association

I applaud the initiatives of the Ministry of Finance and Bank Negara Malaysia to introduce the enhanced reimbursement assistance scheme specific to the B40 income group and micro-enterprises, as well as the continued assistance to SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and more industries. affected as tourism.

This budget also allocates around RM 8.5 billion to protect and create jobs, as well as to provide various training programs. Organizations must support this agenda and strive to preserve jobs, invest in upgrading and improving the skills of their employees, and care for the well-being of their workers so that together we can overcome this extremely challenging environment and this uncertain period. In our opinion, organizations should not feel pressured to reduce staffing costs by downsizing to maintain profits and dividends. All stakeholders must work together to weather this storm.

We must also embrace Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and the new normal in our economic, business and social activities, as the pandemic does not appear to be going away anytime soon. More efforts should be made to help businesses, especially micro-enterprises and SMEs, to operate safely. While current SOPs can work in most circumstances, there are also alternative channels to traditional and physical ones to meet the demand and supply of products and services, hence the budgetary incentives for technology adoption, automation and automation. digitization.

Datuk Ong Eng Bin
OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd
Executive Director

Despite the income constraints brought on by the pandemic, the 2021 National Budget has done well to focus primarily on helping Malaysians cope with current challenges, with particular emphasis on those adversely affected as well as those on the front lines. .

The budget also provides much-needed support to businesses by making the economy even more resilient. All of these are noteworthy as the banking industry continues to work closely with Bank Negara Malaysia and the Ministry of Finance in fulfilling our role to achieve the ideals contained in the budget.

Tan Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow
Public Bank Bhd
Founder, President Emeritus, Director and Advisor

During this difficult time, Public Bank will continue to actively participate and assist clients by providing the additional assistance required under the Expanded Specific Payment Assistance Program.

The Public Bank will continue to fully support government actions by facilitating continued access to finance, particularly commercial finance for small and medium-sized enterprises. Additionally, we will continue to support affordable housing finance, in line with the government’s efforts to promote home ownership among Malaysians.

Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad
CIMB Group
Group executive director

CIMB welcomes our role as facilitators of recovery by participating in the Expanded Specific Loan Assistance Program. Optimally, assistance to borrowers is targeted to ensure that funds are targeted specifically to individuals and businesses in need, including affected SMEs, B40s and M40s.

This is more effective, as those who can afford to resume payments must do so to avoid incurring higher costs and to ensure that the banking system remains healthy, backed by good asset quality to support additional lending activities.

Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli
RHB banking group
Group CEO

Indeed, it is encouraging to see that much support is provided to vulnerable groups, especially the B40 segment, through the continuation of fiscal stimulus packages, including improved assistance for loan repayment and financing.

We also welcome specific government action plans to continue supporting and ensuring the livelihood of the most affected segments, especially SMEs.

With an expansive budget for 2021, downside risks to Malaysia’s economic growth next year are likely to be more limited compared to 2020. At the current juncture, the three risks we are closely monitoring are time for a commercial adaptation of an effective Covid-19 virus vaccine, the path of world economic growth and the volatility of world financial market conditions.

We will continue to play an active role in supporting our clients during this challenging time.

Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir
AMMB Holdings Bhd
Group executive director

The call on financial institutions, specifically banks, to provide specific care and assistance to B40 borrowers and micro-enterprises through extended payment assistance is necessary and appropriate.

To date, AmBank is pleased to have approved nearly 100% of loan and facility payment assistance requests, amounting to more than RM11 billion for individual clients and SMEs.

The government’s RM 1 billion allocation as an incentive for high-value-added investment and technology as well as Bank Negara Malaysia’s RM 500 million high-tech fund are important as they enable our local businesses to become more competitive in the global arena, while contributing to the overall value chain.

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