The Saudi Central Bank announces the extension of the Deferred Payment Program - one of SAMA's Private Sector Financing Support Program- for three additional months to end on June 30, 2021; to continue enabling the financial sector to support the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises "MSME" sector, which in turn contributes to economic growth and private sector employment.

            The central bank also announces the extension of the Guaranteed Financing Program for one year to end on March 14, 2022, as another support lever for MSMEs to help overcome challenges that arise from the COVID-19 preventive measures. MSMEs can benefit from the Guaranteed Financing Program through banks and financing companies that are subject to the supervision of the Saudi Central Bank and are members of the Small & Medium Enterprises Loan Guarantee Program "Kafalah".

            These steps are consistent with the Saudi Central Bank's mandate of maintaining monetary stability, promoting financial sector stability, and supporting economic growth, and are in line with the Kingdom's continued efforts to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 preventive measures on various economic sectors.

It worth noting that since its launch on March 14, 2020 to date, the Deferred Payment Program has benefited around 99,000 contracts with 124 billion riyals value in total. Meanwhile, the number of contracts benefiting from the Guaranteed Financing Program has exceeded 5,000 contracts, with a total financing value of more than 8 billion riyals.