Floods: Govt announces four initiatives to ease burden of affected people, micro-SMEs

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced four initiatives on Wednesday (Dec 22) that will be implemented by government agencies and the banking sector to ease the burden of people and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) affected by the recent massive floods.

Ismail Sabri, in a statement, said Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) would provide interest-free personal loans of up to RM5,000, and for this purpose, BSN has allocated RM100mil to help flood victims buy replacements for household equipment and furniture destroyed in the floods.

He said there would be a moratorium on repayment for the first six months and this initiative was open to flood victims throughout the country.

The prime minister also said Tekun Nasional had set aside a RM30mil fund for a Flood Recovery Financing scheme for affected MSME.

Loans of up to RM10,000 without interest and a 12-month moratorium will be given to those eligible.

According to Ismail Sabri, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is also working on increasing the allocation for the Disaster Relief Facility (DRF) 2022 from RM200mil to RM500mil based on the current needs.

He said another initiative was a repayment assistance scheme for flood victims with housing or property loans, car loans, credit card debts, and personal loans.

"The facility includes deferment or reduction of instalment payments for up to six months,” he said.

He said these initiatives were in addition to other types of government aid announced earlier, including the RM1,000 payment for each Malaysian household affected by floods.

"I truly sympathise with the hardship and difficulty faced by Keluarga Malaysia after being hit by the recent flood disaster,” he said.

He said flood victims in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Perak, Negri Sembilan, Melaka, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor had suffered losses due to destruction of their properties. - Bernama