Loans totalling $850 million have been made out of $2.5 billion budgeted under the Government's Special Finance Scheme to aid small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Assistant Director-General of Industry for development and support Sidney Chan Shuen-yiu released the figure at a seminar on SME financing organised by the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong.
He said 1,498 applications had been received since the scheme was introduced last August.
On April 23, the Legislative Council passed the Government's proposal to increase its guarantee on loans to SMEs from 50 to 70 per cent, and to extend the loan duration from one year to two.
Seven delinquent loan cases totalling $17.5 million were reported, on which the Government had granted 50 per cent repayment guarantees.
SME business associations and banks had proposed changing the terms of the loan scheme to give banks first claim over collateral.
