DBP earmarks P5B for agribusiness lending

Development Bank of the Philippines has earmarked P5 billion for a lending program that aims to help develop the agribusiness sector.

In a statement, the government-run bank said that under its Agribusiness Development Program (ADP), entrepreneurs in the countryside could avail themselves of funds for the development of land that would be used for agribusiness.

DBP president Francisco Del Rosario Jr. said people who were given pieces of land under the agrarian reform program were some of the loan program’s target beneficiaries.

Del Rosario said P5 billion would be initially allocated for the loan program that aimed to provide agri-based entrepreneurs access to credit.

The bank said people eligible to borrow under the ADP were those engaged in the growing of high-value and organic crops and those engaged in poultry and livestock raising. Loans are also available for projects related with post-harvest, and processing and marketing of agricultural products.

DBP said it might extend loans either in wholesale or retail terms.

Those that can get wholesale loans are banks, microfinance institutions, non-government organizations, cooperatives, financing companies and farmers or fisherfolk associations.

People engaged in agribusiness may also directly access retail loans from DBP, it said.

“All types of business entities engaged in agribusiness projects and registered with corresponding agencies are eligible for financing under retail lending,” the bank said.

The lending program is expected to help DBP meet the requirements of the Agri-Agra law, which mandates banks to allocate 25 percent of their loan portfolio to borrowers from the agriculture sector.

Earlier, DBP reported that its net income for the first half reached P1.9 billion, up by about 9 percent from P1.7 billion in the same period last year.

The bank said its loan portfolio had been growing and the growth was expected to continue as it embarked on more lending programs, such as the ADP.