Monetary Authority Of Singapore Further Extends Facility To Support Lending By Banks And Finance Companies To SMEs

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced today that it will further extend the MAS SGD Facility for ESG Loans [1] (the Facility). This extension will complement the six-month extension of Enterprise Singapore’s (ESG) Temporary Bridging Loan Programme [2] (TBLP) from 1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022.

2 The Facility will continue to provide Singapore Dollar (SGD) funding to eligible financial institutions

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(EFIs) for a two year tenor. A revised interest rate of 0.5% per annum

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will apply for funding provided from the May 2022 application window onwards, to better reflect interest rates in Singapore, which have risen alongside the economic recovery.

3 Since its introduction in April 2020, the Facility has disbursed a total of S$14.2 billion to EFIs in support of their lending to companies under the ESG Loan Schemes. Collectively, the Government’s risk sharing through the ESG Loan Schemes and MAS’ lower-cost funding through the Facility will continue to keep borrowing costs low for local enterprises to support their cashflow needs.

[1] The Facility was established on 20 April 2020. The Facility was extended twice on 12 October 2020 and 5 July 2021, to complement ESG’s two extensions of the TBLP, the latest of which was from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022.

[2] The TBLP was introduced in March 2020 for a year to help companies access working capital for their business needs during the COVID-19 crisis. The TBLP was extended twice on 12 October 2020 , and 5 July 2021 , the latest of which was from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. On 18 February 2022, ESG has announced a further extension to 30 September 2022.

[3] Banks and finance companies participating in the ESG Loan Schemes, which refer to the TBLP and the Enterprise Financing Scheme – SME Working Capital Loan, are eligible to tap on the Facility.

[4] Since April 2020, the interest rate was 0.1% per annum for a two-year tenor to EFIs. Funding provided to EFIs in the February, March and April 2022 application windows will continue to be at the interest rate of 0.1% per annum for a two-year tenor.