Gov’t to guarantee P 120-B MSME loans

The unified Philippine Guarantee Corp. (PhilGuarantee) plans to cover up to P120 billion in loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

The DOF said on Tuesday the state-run PhilGuarantee’s governing board chaired by Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III last April approved to roll out the MSME credit guarantee program, which would benefit about 12,000 MSMEs badly hit by the crisis.

The program provides a 50-percent guarantee coverage on MSME working capital loans from accredited banks and financial institutions, the DOF explained.

“The credit guarantees will help MSMEs overcome their economic difficulties resulting from the coronavirus-induced global health crisis,” the DOF added.

The DOF said covered MSMEs would be charged an annual guarantee fee equivalent to 1 percent of the guaranteed loan amount.

Origination fees were waived by PhilGuarantee, the DOF said.

The DOF did not say how much in credit guarantees were already extended by PhilGuarantee to date and how many MSMEs have availed so far.

Besides this MSME assistance program, the DOF said PhilGuarantee also provided the following relief to its clients: waived all housing program-related penalties for the period from March 16 to May 31, covering 28,137 clients; two-month moratorium on monthly amortization payments for long- and short-term rentals as well as those covered by joint-venture agreements across 4,647 existing housing accounts; lifted the 30-day period to file housing claims between March 16 and May 31 for 150 beneficiaries; granted a 60-day extension to all agriculture guarantee fund pool (AGFP) guarantee lines expiring between March 16 and April 30, benefiting 12 partner-lending institutions (PLIs), and gave additional 30 days (or a total of 105 days) for 35 PLIs to file their claims for AGFP-guaranteed loans maturing between March 16 and April 15.

PhilGuarantee has also granted a moratorium on the payment of loan amortizations and lease rentals for restructured loans and lessees of acquired properties effective March 16 to May 31, with no additional interest and penalties incurred during the said period.

On the availment of AGFP guarantee lines for small palay farmers, the PhilGuarantee governing board approved the reduction of the guarantee fee from 1 percent to 0.5 percent and increased the guarantee coverage from 85 percent to 90 percent for PLIs, which will run until July 15.

PhilGuarantee also identified real properties under its name that could be used by the government for its COVID-19 response efforts,” the DOF said.INQ