The worldwide COVID-19 outbreak has a growing impact on the economy. We know this is a difficult time for SMEs and Micro SMEs. To make things as simple as possible, we have put together some useful resources and information to help you navigate these challenging times.
(updated on 24 May 2021)

Steps You Can Take Today

Additional Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (“BPR”) as follows :

  • RM500 for households with income below RM2,500
  • RM300 for households with income between RM2,501 and RM5,000
  • RM100 for bachelor group with income below RM2,500

Automatic moratorium for SMEs:

SMEs not operating during MCO 3.0 are eligible for a 3-month automatic loan moratorium. This scheme is also extended to individuals in B40 groups who have been affected by job losses.

Businesses and individuals may choose to pick up the moratorium or pay back their loans at a 50% lowered rate over 6 months. This will help approximately 5 million borrowers with a total value of RM30 million.

Aid for travel and entertainment businesses:

A 10% electricity bill discount from July to September 2021 will be given to hotel operators, travel and tourism agencies, shopping complexes and premises, convention centers, theme parks, and local airline offices.

Additionally, a one-off aid valued at RM68 million will be provided to tourist guides and sightseeing bus drivers, who will receive RM500 each.

Rental discounts on business premises:

A 30% discount is given on the rental of business premises from May to July 2021 for MARA entrepreneurs unable to operate their businesses during the MCO.

A special tax cut is also given to building owners who provide a further 6-month rental discount of at least 30% to SME tenants.

Exemption from mandatory levy:

Employers registered with the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) will be exempted from paying the mandatory levy in June 2021.

Schemes for bus, taxi, e-hailing services:

The government launched a bus and taxi hire purchase rehabilitation scheme worth RM1 billion, where eligible bus and taxi operators may get a 12-month moratorium and extended repayment period of 36 months.

Sales tax will be exempted on imported completely knocked-down (CKD) and completely built-up (CBU) passenger vehicles until 31 December 2021. It has been extended from 30 June 2021.

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PERMAI Special Prihatin Grant (GKP) is an extension of the GKP 1.0 and 2.0 last year, where SMEs who’ve previously registered successfully will receive a one-off payment of additional financial assistance.

The amount of the one-off assistance under the grant are as follows:

SMEs registered in states under the MCO: RM1,000

SMEs registered in other states: RM500

For those who’ve never benefited from this grant before, they can apply for it starting from 1 April, 2021. Financial assistance of RM1,000 will also be given through the GKP for traders and hawkers in Sabah. New applicants can apply here.

Following the end of the six-month blanket moratorium, Bank Negara Malaysia recognises the continued challenges faced by some borrowers in the current environment. Banks will continue to support those borrowers that may face difficulties in fulfilling their financial obligations through the Targeted Repayment Assistance (TRA) program.

Here’s what you have to know about this initiative:

Eligibility.

All SMEs with a loan amount of up to RM150,000 can defer monthly installments for three months or reduce monthly installments by 50% for six months.

Application Duration.

Effective November 2020 to June 30, 2021.

SME Digitisation Grant

The government will provide a 50% matching grant of up to RM5,000 per company for a subscription to digitisation services. This means if an SME business buys up to RM10,000 of accounting software, the government will pay for 50% of whatever you spend (T&Cs apply).

This matching grant will be worth RM500 million over 5 years, limited to the first 100,000 SMEs applying to upgrade their systems. Take this opportunity to upgrade your accounting solutions, improve your business efficiency to give you more time to focus on growing your business!

Register for our briefing, call our customer service team or chat with us to find out if you qualify and how we can help you apply!

All businesses must have capital in order to purchase assets and maintain their operations. SMEs drive regional economies, we know that cash flow needs are your top priority during this time. To address that, our banking partner, RHB Bank, have a range of short-term liquidity relief measures for ABSS customers.

Click here for more details.

Conferencing systems are no longer the high-end IT tools of large enterprises. Today, there is a range of free conferencing apps that anyone can access. Video conferencing meetings can change the businesses connect with their employees and customers remotely or working from home. You can hold online video chats with groups of people, share your desktop to give a presentation or collaborate on documents.

Check out the ABSS top pick of free video conferencing tools:

Additional Relief & Support

How to Monitor Cash Flow

You can monitor your cash flow with Financio . We've prepared the HOW-TO notes for your easy reading.

Financio Academy
Explore our comprehensive online product training with the objective to help SMEs overcome various accounting challenges.

Continuous Learning & Development

We have FREE webinars available. Join now and learn how to better manage your business finances.

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Additional Resources

Under the Penjana Kerjaya programme, employers will be given an additional incentive of 60% (≤RM6,000) to create job opportunities for people with disabilities, those who are unemployed long-term, and workers who have been terminated.
For sectors with a high reliance on foreign workers, a special incentive of 60% of the monthly salary will be provided.
40% (≤RM4,000) of that will be channeled directly to employers, and 20% (≤RM2,000) for their “Malaysianisation” programme.
It essentially encourages employers to hire locals to replace foreign workers. These incentives will last for six months.
Employers who hire talents under Penjana Kerjaya can also claim a maximum of RM7,000 for a staff’s training programme/apprenticeship.
This only applies to those with employees undergoing a professional certificate programme.
Apply here.

During this challenging time, some SMEs can still operate in the short term even if they are making losses but not if they run out of cash. Those that will survive the COVID-19 crisis are the ones that can effectively manage their costs, capital and most importantly, cashflow.

Take a light read on how you can improve your cash flow management skill.

Effective from January to June 2021, a 10% discount is given to 6 affected sectors, including hotel operators, theme parks, convention centers, shopping malls, domestic flight company offices, and tour agencies.
Those who’ve received the 15% discount from 2020’s Economic Stimulus Package are automatically eligible for the above discount under PERMAI.
Furthermore, up to a 9% bill reduction will be applied for all users.
New SMEs who register and start their operations from July 1, 2020 until December 31, 2021 can claim tax rebates of up to RM20,000 per year. This will be applicable for three assessment years.
Under PEMERKASA, the fundraising limits will be increased from RM10 million to RM20 million. Equity crowdfunding will also be extended to unlisted limited companies.
SSM has also agreed to increase the indebtedness threshold from RM10,000 to RM50,000. Free business registration is also available to the B40 group and full-time IPT students looking to venture into entrepreneurship.
Did you know? SOCSO will fully support the cost of COVID-19 screening for registered foreign workers to identify possible COVID-19 clusters at the workplace. Local employees will have to bear the screening costs on their own. However, they can claim an RM1,000 relief for their individual income tax relief.

An RM17.5 billion has been allocated to the SJMK, a government funding for SMEs in various industries, to assist all SMEs in accessing funding from participating Financial Institutions (FIs).

Funds must be used for working capital or CAPEX only. It cannot be used to refinance existing facilities granted by the same or other participating FIs. There is a financing limit of up to RM100,000 to RM10 million for this scheme.

Specifically for Bumiputras, there is also a dedicated SJMK-B. Interested SMEs can apply directly to participating banks.