BUMIPUTERA entrepreneurs are allocated RM445 million in Budget 2020, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said today, to the opposition’s allegation that the business community has received only RM50 million.

He asked Opposition Leader Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who had made the claim in the Dewan Rakyat today, to check his facts.
 
“The opposition leader has asked why Bumiputera entrepreneurs only get RM50 million and Indian entrepreneurs RM20 million, but the Chinese get RM100 million.

“This is untrue and not based on facts. In the budget, the amount allocated to Bumiputera entrepreneurs is RM445 million. It is allocated through various agencies such as Teraju and SME Corp,” Lim told reporters in the Dewan Rakyat lobby today.

Lim said such allegations amounted to slander and that he awaited a response from Ismail.

Lim, who tabled the budget for 2020 in parliament last Friday, had announced various sums in incentives for Bumiputera entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), 

Bumiputera SMEs are also considered a “priority SME segment” in the budget, along with firms pursuing digitisation and higher exports.

These are eligble for a business loan scheme, where the government guarantee on financing is increased from 70% to 80%, while the fee is reduced to 0.75%.

Bumiputera entrepreneurs also get access to a RM300 million fund disbursed by SME Bank.

Chinese SMEs, meanwhile, are allocated RM100 million, double the RM50 million they received in 2019, in the form of micro-loans from Bank Simpanan Nasional, at 4% interest. – October 14, 2019.