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GFIs lend P6.6B to SMEs in 1st 5 mos |
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By Ted P. Torres
(June 23, 2003 Manday - The Philippine Star) The National Government lent out a total of P6.58 billion in wholesale and retail loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the first five months this year. |
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Another P10 billion is being targeted for the second half of 2003, and still another P2 billion for next year.
These amounts form part of the SME Unified Lending Opportunities for National Growth (Sulong) which falls under the National SME Development Agenda of the Arroyo administration. The lead implementing agency is the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Small Business Corp. (SB Corp.) chairman Zorayda Amelia C. Alonzo said the SME lending program involves seven government financial institutions (GFIs): the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), the Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. (Quedancor), the National Livelihood Support Fund (NLSF), the Philippine Export Import Credit Agency (PhilExim), the Social Security System (SSS) and the SB Corp. The NLSF which is being managed by the LBP, has lending facilities for microfinancing. Alonzo noted that of the total amount lent out as of May this year, the LBP accounted for P4.4 billion while the DBP lent out of P1.517 billion. SB Corp. issued loans amounting to P496.8 million while its counterpart PhilExim accounted for P42.98 million. Quedancor and NLSF were responsible for a combined lending of roughly P127 million. "The P6.5 billion in releases is a manifestation of GFIs cooperation to help the sector, which in the case of the SB Corp., is really part of our mandate," Alonzo said. "In fact, we have been streamlining our operations for easier access by SME borrowers." Including guarantees, the SB Corp. lending services amounted to P747.5 million, or 268 percent higher than the P202.85 million in the same period last year. Meanwhile, the DBP can tap at least P70 billion for its three priority lending areas, namely SMEs, and major infrastructure programs like transportation and power. Of the total amount, the bank set aside P35 billion for the SME sector, which is among of the priority areas for development identified by Arroyo administration. The major infrastructure programs fall under DBP's Sustainable Logistics Development Program (SLDP) designed to improve basic infrastructure for the movement of basic commodities. The now popular "Nautical Highway" of the Arroyo administration, which links Luzon with the Visayas and Mindanao through me Ro/Ro maritime system, is partly funded through the SLDP. Funds come from multilateral and bilateral, lending institutions like the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank, the Kreditanstalt fur Weideraufbau (KfW) of Germany, and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and internally generated funds of the bank. Foreign funding institutions may also be tapped for additional funds. Unofficial figures from the Land Bank of the Philippines indicate that it had an outstanding loan portfolio for SMEs amounting to P15 billion in the first quarter of the year. It reported an outstanding loan portfolio of P14.9 billion for SMEs and microfinancing in 2002. home | latest news | 2003 news archive |
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