Enhancements to Special 100% Loan Guarantee to take effect
**********************************************************
HKMC Insurance Limited announced that enhancements to the Special 100% Loan Guarantee of the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme (SFGS) will take effect from March 29 (Monday).
In order to further alleviate the cash flow pressure of small and medium-sized enterprises, the Financial Secretary announced earlier in the 2021-22 Budget that enhancements will be made to the Special 100% Loan Guarantee, and the application period will be extended to December 31, 2021. Under the enhancement measures, eligible enterprises should have been operating for at least three months as at June 30, 2020, and have suffered at least a 30 per cent decline in sales turnover in any month since February 2020 compared with the monthly average of any preceding quarter from early 2019 to mid-2020 (Note 1). The maximum amount of loan per enterprise will be raised from the total amount of employee wages and rents (Note 2) for 12 months to that for 18 months, or HK$6 million (originally HK$5 million), whichever is lower. Meanwhile, the maximum repayment period of the guaranteed loans will be increased from five years to eight years, and the principal moratorium arrangement will be extended from up to 12 months to up to 18 months.
For public enquiries, please call the SFGS Hotline at 2536 0392.
Note 1: Previously, eligible enterprises should have been operating for at least three months as at the end of 2019, and have suffered at least a 30 per cent decline in sales turnover in any month since February 2020 compared with the monthly average of any quarter in 2019.
Note 2: If an enterprise does not have employees as well as business premises, the calculation can be replaced by half of the maximum monthly net income during the period from early 2019 to mid-2020.
Ends/Monday, March 22, 2021
Issued at HKT 19:33
Issued at HKT 19:33
NNNN