Riyadh, March 10, 2022, SPA -- The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has announced the extension of the Guaranteed Financing Program - one of SAMA's Private Sector Financing Support Programs - for one more year until “March 14th, 2023”, for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). This step is consistent with SAMA’s mandate of promoting financial sector stability, supporting economic growth, and enhancing the Saudi Central Bank's support to MSMEs growth and to overcome challenges that arise from 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 Funding Guarantee Program “Kafalah”. It is worth noting that, since its launch on March 14th, 2020 to date, the Guaranteed Financing Program has benefited more than 13,000 contracts with a total financing value exceeding 11 billion Riyals. --SPA 14:16 LOCAL TIME 11:16 GMT 0010 www.spa.gov.sa/w1703619