RIYADH: Kafala Program has issued 1,061 guarantees for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) since the beginning of the current year valued at SR 600.8 million, Acting Chairman of the Program Eng Osama bin Abdulrahman Al-Mubarak announced at a press conference.
Meanwhile, the volume of financing provided by the participating banks in the Kafala Program stood at SR 1.14 billion destined for some 573 SMEs of different sectors, he said.
Since the beginning of 2006 to the end of August 2012, Kafala Program issued 4,156 guarantees for 2,564 SMEs valued at SR 1.95 billion whereas the banks and other financing institutions provided funding facilities worth SR 4.21 billion, he pointed out.
The Program has succeeded in the provision of an effective financing instrument for SME owners to expand base of their businesses and create more job opportunities for Saudi young workforce, the Program official said.
He said the role of the program was not limited to the issuance of guarantees but expanded to cover other areas such as training and launching of awareness campaigns and workshops for young entrepreneurs in cooperation with the World Bank (WB), the Institute of Banking, banks, and Saudi chambers of commerce and industry.
It is to be recalled that Kafala Program is a joint effort between the Ministry of Finance, represented by the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) and Saudi banks.
The program aims to promote financing to the SME sector in the Kingdom. Through the program, the banks offer finance to customers up to SR 2 million whereas Kafala Program will issue guarantee to the bank, covering up to 80 percent of the required financing.
Kafala Program issues SR 600 m guarantees for SMEs
