Kuala Lumpur: The government has agreed to raise government guarantees under the Business Financing Guarantee Scheme (SJPP) by RM1 billion to assist small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are affected following the United States (US) tariff announcement to secure loans from commercial banks. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim stated that to support affected SME entrepreneurs, the government has also approved an additional sum of RM500 million for soft loan facilities offered through development financial institutions.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the government will continue to monitor the latest developments and is prepared to provide targeted assistance to SMEs that are directly affected. The US reciprocal tariff has a negative impact on global supply chains and trade, especially for SMEs, and is disruptive to ASEAN economic stability, Anwar explained during a special Dewan Rakyat meeting.
Meanwhile, Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, emphasized that amid global economic volatility, the country needs to focus on generating domestic economic activities, particularly development projects and direct investments. In this regard, the government will prioritize accelerating the implementation of approved projects, especially flood mitigation projects, repairs of dilapidated schools, and the construction of clinics.
To expedite these implementations, the government will streamline procurement policies and procedures, particularly those involving small contractors in G1-G4 categories. The government has agreed to increase the limit for procurement by quotation from RM1 million to RM3 million, as well as the limit for procurement through balloting from RM100,000 to RM200,000, to speed up maintenance and repair works for dilapidated schools and clinics.
Anwar highlighted that to accelerate the pre-implementation process of projects, the capacity of technical agencies will be expanded with the introduction of new approaches, such as allowing the implementation of Federal Government projects on state government land. Additionally, special emphasis will be placed on realizing approved investments.
On April 2, US President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on imports from dozens of countries, with Malaysia being imposed a tariff of 24 percent. However, this rate has been paused for 90 days with the imposition of a baseline tariff of 10 percent.