The Singapore government said on Monday that small companies will continue to receive financing support from the government.

The government said it will extend for another year the financing schemes under the Special Risk-Sharing Initiative (SRI) and the enhancements to existing financing schemes that were introduced at the onset of the global economic downturn, according to a joint statement by Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Finance.

But the extension will be on revised terms, taking into account improvements in the global economic situation and the Singapore economy. With this extension, Singapore expects to support up to 8.4 billion Singapore dollars (US$5.87 billion) of new loans till end-January 2011.

Since December 2008, the enhanced financing schemes have catalyzed more than 14,000 loans worth a total of 8 billion Singapore dollars (US$5.59 billion).

More than 13,000 companies, of which more than 90 percent were small-medium enterprises, have benefited from these schemes. The total amount of loans given was about 5.5 times more than the loan amount given out under government-assisted schemes over the one year period prior to the changes.

"With the recovering economy, the credit situation has eased. The government's financing support for some of the schemes will therefore be revised. Nonetheless, the government will ensure that there continues to be sufficient financing support for small businesses," the statement said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 29, 2009)