SMIB is a licensed specialised bank created by the government following the amalgamation of two state-owned banks.
SMIB, which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Finance and Planning, is only permitted to disburse loans for housing, agriculture or for industry.
It is a medium-sized bank that accounted for 3.34% of the industry’s assets as at end-December 2008, and has limited geographic reach; of its 13 branches, 6 are in the western province.
SMIB has been aggressively expanding its loan portfolio in the past 2 years, despite the weakening macroeconomic environment, RAM Ratings said.
The bank’s loan portfolio consists of housing loans collateralised either by property or by the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF).
EPF-backed loans took up 42.77% of SMIB’s