Get ready to bring your business beyond the New Normal.
Malaysia’s Covid-19 driven Prihatin six-month automatic loan moratorium ends in just a few days’ time on September 30…
And the question you need to be asking yourself is: ‘Have I done enough to prepare myself and my business for life beyond this then?’
The obvious damage that has been widely reported in the news will be a potential spike in loan defaults from last October onwards And individuals and SMEs who have not fully recovered from the various MCOs (and the global Covid-19 crisis) will still struggle to continue surviving financially with those commitments ramping back up.
Unfortunately, bankruptcies for individuals, insolvencies for SMEs, and increasing impairment losses for banks will set alarm bells ringing across the nation, resulting in a devastating ripple effect on the Malaysian economy!
With all that said, by now you should already have done the following to get yourself out of financial trouble:
1. Contacted your bank for the reschedule any loan monthly repayments and make arrangement to just pay for the interest portion
2. Reschedule any term loans to a more manageable, revised term
3. Applied for an additional loan to help pay for cost increases in the day-to-day
Unfortunately, is the whole spirit of being Malaysian, many of us tend to have this bad habit of not doing anything until the very last minute… So, what are your options if you just happen to fall into this category?
Well then, be prepared for some drama in your life because of the following:
1. You’ll end up owing the financial institution an increased amount of interest
2. You run the risk legal action against you and your company by the bank for defaulting on the terms of your loan
3. As a result, you also stand a chance of losing the assets that are under collateral to the bank
Given what’s at stake, the current “speak to your bank” advice is simply just not good enough, is it? Fortunately, even as the deadline for the loan repayment mortarium looms closer, there are still options for trouble SMEs to consider.
As we now try to adapt to the new normal, the government has announced that banks will continue to provide targeted moratorium intensions and flexible loan repayments, even after September 30.
What this means is:
1. An extension of the loan moratorium for another three months for those who have lost their jobs this year, and are still unable to find new employment.
2. A reduction in loan instalment proportional to their reduced salary (for those with pay cuts) for at least six months, with the possibility of another extension afterwards.
So yes, do yourself a favour and do give your bank a call or a visit right now – before it really is too late to do any good!
But before you do that, if you need assistance you can give us a call or a visit us here at Sales Ninja first. This is because we would definitely love to share my own opinions and solutions on this matter with you, as a means of getting yourself out of this difficult conundrum.
