HLB & HLISB Reduce BR/IBR Reduce BR/IBR and BLR/IFR

• A timely reduction in interest rates to help Borrowers as they recover from the MCO and rebuild personal and business finances
• As of April 30, 2020, HLB has helped fast-tracked credit approvals for SMEs under the BNM’s Special Relief Fund for close to 1600 SMEs

Kuala Lumpur, 7 May 2020: Hong Leong Bank Berhad (“HLB”) and Hong Leong Islamic Bank Berhad (“HLISB”) will be reducing the Base Rate (“BR”) and Islamic Base Rate (“IBR”) to 2.88% from 3.38% following the latest reduction in Bank Negara Malaysia’s Overnight Policy Rate (“OPR”) by 50 bps.

Similarly, loans and financing based on the Base Lending Rate (“BLR”) and Islamic Financing Rate (“IFR”) will be lowered to 5.89% from 6.39%. The board rates of its fixed deposits will be revised lower by 50 bps as well.

All rate changes will be effective from 12 May 2020.

While the Movement Control Order (“MCO”) has managed to contain the wider spread of COVID-19 within our communities, the virus will still be around for the foreseeable future and containing it comes at the price of slowing our social and economic activities which will be felt by all of us for a while to come.

Domenic Fuda, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of HLB said, “Despite the challenges, we are optimistic that the domestic economy will adjust to this ‘new normal’ way of life as we operate under a conditional MCO period which allows nearly all economic sectors to resume work albeit with specific protocols being observed by each industry/sector. With public confidence that enough progress has been made in flattening the curve and the trust that our healthcare system can cope with the outbreak, plus the support of both monetary and fiscal measures should prove crucial to help borrowers move from the containment to the recovery phase and rebound quickly from the recent economic lockdown”.

In early February, the Bank initiated its own Customer Financial Relief Plan to support its SME and Individual customers affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, including restructuring or rescheduling their loans and financing where this would help their cash-flow situation and ease the financial burden of both SMEs and households. The Bank had also structured its 6-months loan deferment program to comply with the BNM announcement and at the same time provided maximum flexibility to its customers to enable them to meet their financial obligations post the MCO period.

“Beyond the rate cuts and loan deferment programs, we have been proactively working with our clients to help wherever we can with their recovery and rebound phases and thus ensuring that we are here to provide the financial support needed to restart operations or assist with opportunities that might arise or help with funds needed to strengthen their businesses digitally, which has we all know, is extremely important in the new normal way of life”, added Fuda.

*Source: SME Corp:

https://www.smecorp.gov.my/index.php/en/policies/2020-02-11-08-01-24/sme-statistics