CGC eyes 25% increase in guarantee issuances this year

CGC president and chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Zamree Mohd Ishak.

KUALA LUMPUR: Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd (CGC) is targeting to grow its guarantees issuances by 25 per cent this year from RM5.1 billion achieved in 2023.

CGC president and chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Zamree Mohd Ishak said the target is achievable as the corporation had issued as much as RM2.2 billion in guarantees during the first half of this year.

"The primary reasons for setting this higher target compared to the previous year are to address market needs and our optimism about the future economic outlook.

"Aiming for the higher target is something we desire because the more guarantees and financing we provide in collaboration with our partners, including financial institutions (FI), development financial institutions (DFI), and peer-to-peer financing, the more we can support our small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro SMEs (MSMEs),” he told reporters at the CGC 29th FI/DFI & SME Awards 2023 here today.

Mohd Zamree said CGC ensured that MSMEs had access to financial assistance during one of the most challenging times in recent history and this was shown when the corporation average guarantee issued tripled from RM1.8 billion to RM5.2 billion from 2020 to 2022.

"This trend continued in 2023, when the total approvals for guarantee and financing schemes reached RM5.1 billion, exceeding our target by 125 per cent as we continued with our countercyclical role,” he added.

In 2023, CGC provided financial assistance to over 10,000 MSMEs, and non-financial assistance to over 8,800 MSMEs.

With 2023 marking the third year of the 5-Year Strategic Plan 2021-2025 (5SP+) for its four Headline Targets, CGC recorded a 90 per cent achievement in Guarantee and Financing Base of the set target of RM24.7 billion, Mohd Zamree said.

At the event, a total of 16 awards were presented to the winners consisting of nine awards for leading FIs and DFIs, six awards for SMEs and one award for non-FI partner.

Among the winners are OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd who won two awards, namely Best Financial Partner and Top FI Partner (Commercial Financial Institution), while CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd won Top FI Partner (Bumiputera) and Top FI Partner (Islamic Financial Institution). - Bernama