EXPECTED BUSINESS DISTRESS POST-MORATORIUM MANAGEABLE -- CGC

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28  -- Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd (CGC) believes that the anticipated business distress when the six-month moratorium expires on Sept 30, 2020 will be manageable.

Its president and chief executive officer, Datuk Mohd Zamree Mohd Ishak said there would be some signs of distress among businesses when the moratorium ends but the situation is manageable, as the issue has been well mitigated so far.

“This is because stakeholders like banks and CGC have been reaching out to customers and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to discuss how to weather through this period," he said on the sidelines of CGC's 25th Financial Institution and SME Awards here, today.

Mohd Zamree said since June this year, CGC has contacted over 35,000 of its customers to discuss how to resume their repayments after the blanket moratorium ends.

"Some customers had come forward to discuss relief options such as restructuring and rescheduling their loans or financing,” he said, adding that CGC has also reached out to all its 3,044 direct financing customers.

Mohd Zamree added that the volume of engagement increased significantly this month and is expected to increase until year-end.

CGC, which is the guarantor for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), has so far issued over 35,000 letters for CGC guarantees worth RM9.6 billion, he added.

Meanwhile, Mohd Zamree said a new way of assessing applicants will be introduced between the end of the year and the first quarter of 2021.

He said instead of assessing applicants' capability to pay their loans or financing based on their historical financial records, the new way of assessment would be measured by the willingness of the applicants to repay their loans or financing.

"Currently, we are running a psychometric test on this and we are going to start the new method on a pilot basis from the end of the year to the first quarter of next year. This involves 400 to 600 micro-businesses," he said.

-- BERNAMA