HKMA to set up task force to help struggling SMEs repay loans

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is setting up a task force to lend support to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) facing challenges to repay loans.

In a statement seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, HKMA’s deputy chief executive Arthur Yuen said that it would form a team from among its staff to help SMEs in Hong Kong. 

“The SMEs can contact the HKMA directly through our hotline and emails, which we set up earlier. The HKMA will soon set up a task force to follow up on their cases,” the statement reads. More details about the task force would be disclosed at a later stage.  

The HKMA expects frontline staff of banks to implement the principle of fair treatment of customers and provide appropriate support to customers in need, said Yuen.  

The HKMA will continue to maintain close contact with the industry and will actively follow up on any referral cases received. 

In fact, businesses have faced challenges as a result of the tightening of property loans by banks amid a staggering economy.  

A recent survey from the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce also revealed that 74.3% of small and medium-sized businesses surveyed said cash flow is their biggest challenge in the coming 12 months. 

Back in March, the HKMA teamed up with the Banking Sector SME Lending Coordination Mechanism (Mechanism), to roll out a series of measures to assist SMEs in obtaining financing from banks and to support their continuous development. 

These include avoid demanding early repayments from mortgage customers who repay on schedule; giving customers a transition period of at least six months for credit limit adjustments and setting up a one-stop platform for providing information on banking services for SMEs.

Since the introduction of the nine SME support measures, around 7,000 SMEs have benefitted from the measures, involving an aggregate credit limit of over HK$15 billion, according to HKMA.  

On the other hand, Hong Kong's chief executive John Lee has pledged to lend support to struggling SMEs amid a challenging environment and looming external uncertainties, and he said he was optimistic about the city's economy in the coming year.

Lee also said that people betting against Hong Kong would lose as he appeared in his first town hall meeting on Sunday to gather the public’s views ahead of his policy address in October.

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