Hong Kong is to relaunch a scheme to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by offering easier loan repayment terms, as part of a range of measures to boost the business sector.
Chief Executive John Lee said in his third Policy Address on Wednesday that firms would be allowed to apply for a delay of up to 12 months in repaying the principal under the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme.
The measure will cover existing loans already granted under the 80 per cent, 90 per cent and special 100 per cent guarantee products rolled out earlier, as well as new loans under the 80 per cent and 90 per cent products, Lee said.
The maximum loan guarantee periods for the 80 per cent and 90 per cent guarantee products will be extended to 10 years and eight years respectively.
Partial principal repayment options will also be offered to new loans under the 80 per cent and 90 per cent guarantee products.
The measure aimed to “address the challenges commonly encountered by [SMEs] during economic restructuring,” Lee said in Cantonese.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority was also considering providing “flexibility” in banks’ capital requirements to ease loans to SMEs, he added.
Other measures include an injection of HK$1 billion into the government’s Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales Fund (BUD Fund), which helps SMEs to upgrade their operations and develop new markets.
The government will also relaunch the Hong Kong Shopping Festival, which showcases the city’s products and brands on mainland China’s e-commerce market, in the next two years.
2024 Policy Address in full:
- Activists urge democracy, free press and enhanced worker rights outside legislature
- Hong Kong cuts tax on premium liquor amid slump in bar business
- Hong Kong expands top talent scheme as city seeks to attract ‘high-calibre talent’
- Multiple-entry visa rules for Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar citizens relaxed
- Hong Kong to phase out subdivided units under 8 sq. metres, but ‘coffin homes’ to stay
- Chief Exec. John Lee urges religious, language and catering support for Muslim visitors
- Hong Kong revives loan concession scheme to support small and medium enterprises
- New HK$5k monthly subsidy for elderly to live in Guangdong care homes
- Loan-to-value ratio for home mortgages to be relaxed amid home price slump
- Young Hongkongers to get better chance of buying subsidised flats
- Gov’t to launch online emotional support platform for young people after spate of suicides
- Gov’t to test locally trained GenAI for document processing
- Concern group ‘disappointed’ with subdivided flat phase-out, urges rehousing plan
- SMEs should reform and improve, leader John Lee says amid a wave of biz closures
- Gov’t to test locally trained GenAI for document processing
- Hong Kong’s third medical school to be built in Northern Metropolis
- Chief Exec. John Lee says democratic reform is ‘settled’ and ‘not an issue’
