The HKMA and the banking sector in Hong Kong have been supporting the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of different industries. The Banking Sector SME Lending Coordination Mechanism (Mechanism) was established by the HKMA in October 2019. Participants include 11 banks that are most active in lending to SMEs, the Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB) and the HKMC Insurance Limited. Since its establishment, the Mechanism has rolled out several rounds of relief measures for SME customers, including the Pre-approved Principal Payment Holiday Scheme, loan tenor extensions, and the conversion of trade financing lines into temporary overdraft facilities, which helped many SMEs tide over the difficult times during the COVID pandemic.
In August 2024, the HKMA and HKAB established a joint Taskforce on SME Lending (Taskforce) to further strengthen the work for supporting SMEs at both the individual case and the industry levels, including handling individual cases of SMEs encountering difficulties when accessing bank financing, working out appropriate solutions for adoption across banks and enhancing communication among the HKMA, the banking industry and the commercial sector so as to understand the financing needs of SMEs in a more timely manner.
Multiple rounds of support measures have been introduced by the banking sector since March 2024 to assist SMEs in coping with the changing business environment. Among others, these include banks not demanding early repayments from mortgage customers repaying on schedule, not adjusting credit limits merely due to a decline in collateral value; providing a transition period of at least six months for certain cases warranting adjustment of credit limits, and offering more flexible repayment arrangements to assist customers in coping with short-term cash flow pressure. In addition, all the 18 participating banks in the Taskforce have set aside dedicated funds in their loan portfolio to support SMEs’ continuous development, upgrade and transformation.
Following the launch of the various support measures, many SMEs have benefitted through, among others, principal moratorium and partial principal repayment, approved new credit applications and concessions on credit application fees, commitment fees and interest which help ease their financial burden and provide them with new financing for development.
You may find information on the various support measures launched by the HKMA and the banking sector, SME lending services provided by different banks and other support measures offered by government-related organisations for SMEs in this one-stop platform.
Should you have any enquiries or comments about SME support measures and lending services, please contact the HKMA.
