JEDDAH — The Saudi Social Development Bank (SDB) on Sunday announced a support program worth SR12 billion for owners of startups and small enterprises as well as for families with low income in the promising and priority sectors in order to reduce the financial and economic fallout of the new coronavirus outbreak. The bank will implement the program, with the support of the National Development Fund (NDF), to alleviate the financial and economic impacts expected during the response to the coronavirus on both individuals and small enterprises. This is based on the keenness of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman to meet the needs of Saudi citizens in all walks of life, as well as to support startups and small enterprises to enhance their contribution to the national economy, the Saudi Press Agency reported. This support program includes five qualitative realms that contribute to alleviate the financial and economic burdens resulting from the current crisis for owners of emerging and small enterprises and families with low income so as to enable them to continue their commercial activities. A total of 100,000 small income families will benefit with an increase of SR4 billion in SDB's support to their financing portfolio during the year 2020. The bank has increased the allocation to support portfolio for micro and small enterprises by SR2 billion and this will help 6,000 entrepreneurs to start their development projects. SDB has allocated a new portfolio of SR2 billion to provide financial support to 1,000 small and medium health facilities with a focus on new and existing medical activities to increase their operating capacity and accelerate the pace of their work and scope of services. A total of 50,000 small establishments will be benefited from SR2 billion worth financing portfolios allocation through brokers to support local content in all regions of the Kingdom. In addition to this, the grace period for all projects funded during 2019 and 2020 has been extended for an additional six months, bringing the total value of the deferred premiums to SR2 billion. This is in terms of helping them to achieve financial empowerment with a belief in the bank's role toward entrepreneurs, especially those who have not yet been able to start their projects. The objectives of SDB, which was established in 1971, were focused on social and business loans. The bank is one of the important government pillars in the field of social development loans to less privileged citizens to empower and enable them to play an effective role in national development plans.
