Visayas banks now up and running

A rainbow rises along damaged homes in Tacloban City on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013. Banks in areas affected by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” are slowly getting their operations up and running, helping the public access their own money to rebuild homes lost in the Nov. 8 typhoon. AP

MANILA, Philippines—Banks in areas affected by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” are slowly getting their operations up and running, helping the public access their own money to rebuild lost homes.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Wednesday said that it has been in close coordination with banks, which were forced to suspend operations in the affected areas due to severe damage and loss of power and communication lines.

“There were many operational challenges banks had to deal with,” said BSP Deputy Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr., head of the central bank’s regulatory functions.

In the past few days, he said, many banks have been able to open branches, except those that sustained heavy damage during the typhoon.

“We are glad to see this is now happening. BSP will be ready to support them,” he said.

Fortunately, most banks were able to build up adequate stockpiles of cash before the typhoon. He said this was part of banks’ contingency plans to ensure that they are able to service withdrawals of their clients.

“In any case, the BSP is ready to replenish if they need more cash,” he said.

Last week, the BSP’s policymaking Monetary Board approved a set of regulatory measures to help banks in affected areas get their operations back to normal.

The temporary relief measures covered nine regions in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao that were affected by Yolanda. The BSP determined the covered areas based on a report by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of regions that were declared under a state of calamity last week.—Paolo G. Montecillo