Written reply to PQ on defaults in repayment under Temporary Bridging Loan SME Working Capital Loan and Trade Loan Programmes

Question

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry for each year since 2020 what is the total amount of default in repayment under (i) the Temporary Bridging Loan Programme (ii) the SME Working Capital Loan Programme and (iii) the Trade Loan Scheme under the Enterprise Financing Scheme respectively, as a result of business failure due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Written Answer by Minister for Trade and Industry Mr Gan Kim Yong

1. The amount in default for working capital loans given out from 2020 to 2022, which comprise the Temporary Bridging Loan Programme and the Enterprise Financing Scheme (EFS) – SME Working Capital Loan, is 1.8% of the total loan amount, or $439 million. The amount in default for the EFS – Trade Loan given out over the same period is 1.2% of the total loan amount, or $84 million. These loan default rates are lower than the overall EFS loan default rate of around 3.8% observed for loans given out before the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. Companies default on their loan repayments for a variety of reasons, and we are unable to ascertain the numbers that were due to business failure caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.