SEPANG, April 2 — The Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry has held discussions with Bank Rakyat and Maybank on the process of restructuring the loan repayment of entrepreneurs affected by Covid-19.

Its minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said he had also tabled the proposal at the recent Cabinet meeting.

"Many entrepreneurs came to see me and informed me that they could not repay their loans even though the banks provided a moratorium. Therefore, I have discussed with these two financial institutions to restructure loan repayments.

"This way, we can assist businesses to recover especially when the country’s borders have reopened,” he told Bernama at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport recently.

Noh said that as foreign travellers can now enter the country for tourism purposes, the ministry would focus on assisting entrepreneurs in the tourism industry, including tour bus operators and homestay owners.

"As they have not been in operation for two years, they need time to make repayment. They also need to repair their vehicles and homestay in order to kick-start their business,” he said.

In this regard, Noh was confident that the restructuring or rescheduling of loan repayments could assist entrepreneurs involved in resuming their business and repaying their loans according to schedule soon.

Meanwhile, he said the ministry has allocated RM50 million to assist micro-entrepreneurs affected by the floods last year, RM100 million for small and medium industry entrepreneurs as well as RM200 million through the Informal and Micro Financing Scheme.

"The ministry will continue to be concerned with the problems faced by entrepreneurs because they are the ones who will help to revitalise the country’s economy,” he added. — Bernama