Agrobank, an agriculture-focused bank owned by the Malaysian government announced a flood relief assistance plan to aid customers affected by the current flood disaster in the country
The bank said that it is committed to providing flood relief support and will mobilise its rescheduling and restructuring (R&R) plan and moratorium up to six months for qualified customers. These plans are extended to Agrobank customers affected by the floods in Pahang, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and other affected states in Malaysia.
Khadijah Iskandar, covering president, CEO of Agrobank, said, “The relief assistance aims to alleviate and lessen the financial burden faced by Agrobank customers impacted by the floods. We are deeply aware of the challenges affected by the current flooding situation that caused damage to our customers’ properties, farms and agricultural activities which impacted their businesses as a whole. Therefore, Agrobank Flood Relief assistance is offered to mitigate the situation and help our affected customers during this difficult time.”
Khadijah added that the bank will also be providing financial aid to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) affected by the recent floods under the Disaster Relief Facility 2022 (DRF 2022) amounting to US$47.6mn, shared with other commercial and Islamic banks and development financial institutions. The statement follows a similar announcement made by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
The flood relief assistance is designed to address the challenges of the flood victims which include a moratorium of financing for customers who have lost their source of income and project damaged can be considered to deferment of monthly instalments for up to six months.
Agrobank will also restructure or reschedule financing for qualified customers affected by the flood disaster and also waive charges for affected customers seeking replacement of ATM cards and passbooks which were destroyed in the floods.
Financing up to US$119,047 per SME and US$17,857 per micro-enterprise with a financing rate of 3.5% per annum, inclusive of the guarantee fee is made available under the Disaster Relief Facility 2022 (DRF 2022) by BNM. The financing is said to be available from 27 December 2021 until the US$47.6mn fund is fully utilised.
