(AFP) Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad urged banks and other financial institutions today to ease loans to small businesses to help power economic growth.

Some banks were too cautious in approving loans to small and medium-sized industries (SMIs), he said in a speech.

Mahathir said this was "a great loss to the country".

"Banks need to play a more active role in helping SMIs such as offering financial planning, management and marketing advice."

Mahathir was speaking at the launch of Malaysia's first gold bullion coin, the Kijang Emas.

It carries an image of a kijang (barking deer) on the obverse.

Central bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said the coins were a sound form of investment as their purchase and resale price was determined by the prevailing international gold price.

"The production of Kijang Emas is not only to introduce Malaysia to the world but also to provide an option to the people to invest and save," said Mahathir.

He added that with the relatively stable gold prices, the coins would balance the risks of other investment portfolios such as the share market.