The Small and Medium Enterprises Bank (SME Bank) in Saudi Arabia, a development bank under the National Development Fund, has allocated $2.7 billion to support kingdom’s SME sector, through existing and new financing programs offered by the Bank, including direct and indirect lending programs, financing guarantee, and investment solutions during the next three years.
This comes in line with the continuous support and enablement by the leadership and the efforts of SME Bank to provide innovative and scalable funding solutions in order to achieve the ambitious goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and raise the sector’s contribution to the GDP to 35 percent.
SME Bank Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Abdurrahman bin Mohammed bin Mansour, commented that “SME Bank seeks to increase the financing provided to small and medium enterprises, and to enhance the contribution of financial institutions in providing innovative financing solutions, which contributes to the growth and prosperity of this vital sector, expressing his thanks and appreciation for the care and interest of the leadership to this vital sector.”
Mr. Bin Mansour confirmed that the bank’s business started recently by introducing 6 main financing products that were developed based on the needs of small and medium enterprises. SMEs can now apply for financing through the website of the SME Bank, which provides access to more than 48 financing institutions in the Kingdom.
It is worth noting that this announcement coincides with the news of consolidating the Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC) with SME Bank group, for which $852 million are allocated to support the strategic growth of the company in developing investment products that enhance its role in stimulating and sustaining investment programs in startup from the pre-seed stage to market listing.
It was also announced that the Financing Guarantee Program for small and medium enterprises (Kafala) joined the SME Bank group, which had the allocation of nearly $266 million to support its programs and expand its product offering.
