THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Monday their credit- support program for small businesses as implemented in the different local government units (LGUs) continue to expand in the third quarter of the year.
At the recent launch of the Credit Surety Fund (CSF) for Marikina City on Monday, Monetary Board Member Alfredo Antonio said loans extended under the CSF program already reached P1.3 billion as of end-September this year.
This, according to Antonio, benefited 10,442 so-called micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the country.
“We expect to reach the P1.5-billion mark by the end of the year,” Antonio said.
The CSF is a program initiated by the BSP as a credit-enhancement scheme to help start-up businesses obtain loans from banks.
Since some MSMEs experience difficulty in getting bank loans due to lack of acceptable collateral, credit knowledge and credit track records, the CSF helps MSMEs by pooling the cash contributions from participating institutions like LGUs and use this as surety cover.
Marikina’s CSF is the latest to benefit from the program since its inception in 2008. The Marikina CSF is the 32nd such institution for the country.
Antonio further reported the BSP is expected to expand the number of CSFs in the country toward as the year draws to a close.
“We are still expanding, with an expected establishment of five more CSFs this year,” Antonio said.
The additional CSFs will be established in Agusan del Norte, Butuan City, San Jose City, Muñoz City and Nueva Vizcaya.
Antonio said they are already planning the launching of six additional CSFs next year.
The additional CSFs to be launched in 2015 will be in Nueva Ecija, Cagayan, Zambales, Isabela, Bukidnon and Santa Rosa, Laguna.