KUALA LUMPUR (April 21): SME Bank’s government-guaranteed Islamic medium-term notes (IMTN) issuance has been oversubscribed by 4.5 times or RM2.2 billion from the actual issuance of RM500 million on April 16.
Group president and chief executive officer Aria Putera Ismail said this was an acknowledgement of the bank’s strong financial standing, market presence and its important role in nurturing and developing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
“The issuance of the RM500 million sukuk has attracted several financial institutions or asset management companies,” he said in a statement today.
Despite the economic uncertainty and the rapid fluctuations of the money market, the negotiations were closed at 23 basis points for five years and 20 basis points for seven years, he said.
He added that the IMTN has also been set with a competitive final price of between 3.02% and 3.30%.
Meanwhile, Aria said as an agency under the supervision of the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives, the SME Bank has implemented several initiatives in line with the government's economic stimulus plan to help support the viability of the SME sector during the Movement Control Order period and until the end of the Covid-19 crisis in the country.
He said this includes the automatic deferment of financing payment and the offering of a number of financing packages under Bank Negara Malaysia such as the Special Relief Facility as well as the Automation and Digitalisation Facility.
As of Dec 31, 2019, SME Bank has approved over RM32 billion in financing to more than 17,200 SME since its inception in 2005.
The bank has also been entrusted by the government to lead the National SME Digital Platform, which is a part of SME Bank's two-year acceleration plan initiative.
Source : https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/sme-banks-govtguaranteed-imtn-oversubscribed-45-times