LENGGONG, Sept 24 — Perak will establish an interest-free micro-credit loan scheme for traders affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, said Mentri Besar Datuk Saarani Mohamad.

He said the state government was collecting funds and refining the loan mechanism, adding that the government had pooled together initial funding of RM3 million, with RM1 million each from last year’s economic stimulus package, Perak State Agricultural Development Corporation and Perak Entrepreneur Secretariat (STeP).

"I’m confident we will have the opportunity to increase funding and I will discuss with STeP to see the actual allocation required,” he said at an aid presentation ceremony here today.

The loan scheme, which is expected to be implemented January next year and announced during the 2022 Perak Budget, is to help traders in need of capital to begin their busineses as well as to provide one-off assistance of RM300 to traders and entrepreneurs as announced previously by the government.

"Such a small amount will be inadequate for some traders. Restaurateurs, night market and other traders may require more than RM300 in capital.

"We also cannot afford to provide too much as there are too many entrepreneurs, so we decided to offer this interest-free micro-credit loan scheme,” he said. — Bernama