PhilGuarantee Broadens Efforts to Support MSMEs Amid COVID-19
The Philippine Guarantee Corporation (PhilGuarantee) announced on Monday, February 22, that they will broaden their efforts in providing aid to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and other vital sectors to help businesses stay afloat amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
PhilGuarantee plans to provide support for businesses in the industries of manufacturing, housing, and agriculture to help jumpstart the Philippine economy despite the ongoing pandemic.
PhilGuarantee has opened ₱655 billion worth of credit guarantee lines for businesses in 2020. Among such credit lines, a total of ₱180.87 billion in loans were guaranteed by the state agency, 8% above the target of ₱168 billion last year.
PhilGuarantee President-Chief Executive Officer Alberto Pascual shared that the agency’s MSME Credit Guarantee Program (MCGP) accounted for ₱37.73 billion of the approved credit guarantee lines.
Pascual stated that “This was extended to 34 banks across the country to encourage them to continue lending to small businesses affected by the COVID-induced crisis.”
The MCGP will be extended until September to provide continuing support to affected MSMEs and enterprises in the country. The program is accessible through working capital loans under credit-risk sharing arrangements with accredited banks.
A total of 2,943 new MSME beneficiaries will be served under the program. In December 2020, the program provided guarantees to loans totaling ₱175 million.
Pascual continued that the agency’s strong relationship with 53 banks resulted in approximately ₱613 billion approved guarantee facilities as of December 2020.
PhilGuarantee made its SME Credit Guarantee Facility available to cover loans of micro and small enterprises amounting from ₱100,000 to ₱50 million. Their Medium and Large Enterprises Credit Guarantee Facility provided loans from ₱50 million to ₱300 million.
Pascual added that PhilGuarantee will continue to expand its credit guarantee support to vital economic sectors and industries such as export, trading, health, manufacturing, renewable energy, and commercial agriculture this year.
