Kafalah to offer SAR 12.7 bln SME guarantees in 2023: CEO

Homam Hashem, CEO of the Small and Medium Enterprises Loan Guarantee Program (Kafalah)

The Small and Medium Enterprises Loan Guarantee Program (Kafalah) aims to offer SAR 12.7 billion worth of SME credit guarantee financing in 2023, CEO Homam Hashem told Argaam in an interview.

The top executive added that the value of loan guarantees granted to SMEs in the first quarter of 2023 exceeded SAR 4 billion.

Furthermore, Kafalah has allocated about SAR 300 million to support SMEs and provide guarantees through the financial technology sector via crowdfunding operations, said Hashem, indicating that the volume of guarantees will double to SAR 1.5 billion during the year.

The CEO also pointed to the growth of Kafalah program's business by more than 30% annually. It offers more than 16 effective products to guarantee SME financing, in partnership with more than 77 entities.

As for the financial crunch endured by SMEs that obtained credit guarantees from the program, he explained, "This distress is still within the fixed rates, which are less than 1%."