Business organisations responded to financing measures in Malaysia’s Budget 2025 with support for investment programmes and concerns about operating costs. Bernama’s report of 20 October 2024 brings together reactions to funding for women-led businesses, automation and digitalisation, alongside comments on the announced minimum-wage increase.
Financing for women entrepreneurs and technology
Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers president Soh Thian Lai welcomed RM470 million of financing funds aimed at women-led micro, small and medium enterprises. The institutions named in the report were SME Bank, Bank Simpanan Nasional, Bank Rakyat and MARA. The funds were described as supporting working capital, asset purchases and business expansion.
Soh also welcomed RM3.8 billion for SME digitalisation and automation loans. He called for these loans to be offered at interest rates of 2%–3%, pointing to businesses’ technology-adoption needs. The rate range was his recommendation, rather than a confirmed product rate announced in the report.
Support measures and cost concerns
Small and Medium Enterprises Association Malaysia president William Ng welcomed the automation and digitalisation allocation and a matching grant for industrial training to be administered by TalentCorp. He said the training support could help businesses address staffing needs while giving students practical experience.
Ng also discussed the announced increase in the minimum wage from RM1,500 to RM1,700. He agreed that wages in Malaysia were low, but expressed concern about the effect on firms facing squeezed margins, particularly in Sabah and Sarawak. His comments about possible employment losses were forecasts and concerns, not evidence of losses that had already occurred.
Keep the categories separate
- RM470 million: financing funds directed at women-led smaller businesses.
- RM3.8 billion: loans for SME automation and digitalisation.
- 2%–3%: FMM’s requested interest-rate range, not an established rate.
- RM1,500 to RM1,700: the announced minimum-wage change discussed by SAMENTA.
Funding Societies Malaysia country head Chai Kien Poon supported continued digitalisation assistance, while noting that many businesses still faced financing, cost-management and digital-adoption challenges. Paywatch Malaysia co-founder and president Alex Kim welcomed the focus on digital infrastructure and financial literacy. These are attributed reactions from market participants with their own business interests.
The report captures a budget debate in October 2024. It does not demonstrate that the financing allocations had already reached borrowers, that all applicants qualified or that the proposed benefits had been realised. Keeping those boundaries clear allows the support measures and the business organisations’ concerns to be assessed in their historical context.
Bernama’s coverage provides the financing figures and the separately attributed responses from the business community.
