Saudi central bank extends guaranteed funding programme for small businesses
Since March 14, 2020 the programme has offered 11 billion riyals in financing
Dubai: Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has announced an extension of its guaranteed financing programme for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) for one year until March 14 2023, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The scheme was introduced in March of 2020 during the initial COVID-19 outbreak. MSMEs can benefit from the Guaranteed Financing programme through banks and financing companies that are subject to the supervision of the Saudi Central Bank and are members of the Small and Medium Enterprises Funding Guarantee Programme, better known as Kafalah.
Since its launch on March 14, 2020, to date, the Guaranteed Financing Programme has benefited more than 13,000 contracts with a total financing value exceeding 11 billion riyals.
The Guaranteed Financing programme is one of SAMA’s private sector financing support programmes, which includes the Deferred Payment programme for private sector firms impacted by coronavirus – a programme that was extended until this March.