More OFW households saving money

More OFW households saving money

MORE FAMILIES of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) set aside remittances for savings and investment, amid an increase in financial literacy as well as savings and investment opportunities.

Among households that received overseas Filipino workers (OFW) remittances in the first quarter, 42.7% used remittances for savings, while 8.5% made financial investments, data from the Consumer Expectations Survey of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) released in March showed.

These numbers were higher than the 41.4% and 5.7% OFW households that had saved and invested, respectively, in the same period last year.

“They are getting a lot of financial literacy training,” said Golda Myra R. Roma, director for policy planning and research at the Commission on Filipinos Overseas. “There is the realization already of the value of saving for the future.”

The BSP noted a major shift in the use of remittances by beneficiaries. When the quarterly survey started in 2007, only 7.2% saved the money sent home by loved ones abroad, while only 2.3% invested.

“It is good that more OFW households are saving and investing, because they are able to prepare for their return and stay here. Some families are already able to get rid of their consumerist attitude,” said Ms. Roma.

BSP data showed that OFW households continued to spend remittances primarily for food, education, medical expenses, and debt repayments.

Remittances in the first quarter grew by 5.4% to $4.842 billion. The rate of increase was slower than the 5.9% recorded in the same period last year.

Ms. Roma acknowledged the efforts of the government, non-governmental organizations, and private financial companies to provide programs and products to increase financial literacy and saving opportunities for OFWs.

“Eventually, we would like the OFWs to come back and maximize their potential, shaped by their experiences abroad,” she added.

The BSP survey covered 5,852 households nationwide, out of which 589 received OFW remittances in the first quarter. — Carmina Angelica C. Valeroso

MANAGING MICRO FINANCE; Save first, borrow later

MANAGING MICRO FINANCE; Save first, borrow later

Friday, 25 May 2012 00:00 Written by AMADO P. MACASAET

BanKo, the microfinance arm of the Ayala Group, has an unorthodox way of doing business. While its main objective is to lend small sums to ordinary people, it requires borrowers to sign an agreement to save.

Tessie Tan, president of the institution operating out of Greenhills in San Juan, explained in a recent interview with Malaya Business Insight that one in five poor Filipinos wants to borrow.

And these borrowers pay their debts, Ms. Tan said, since they know they will have to borrow again and must present good credit history.

Paying a debt, says Ms. Tan, is ingrained among Filipinos. It is a cultural value brought about by necessity, she said. Micro borrowers pay their obligations regularly to build good credit reputation to enable them to borrow more next time.

Looking at these things, Ms. Tan says she sees a nation of small savers and micro entrepreneurs.

The process of developing savings consciousness could be very tedious, according to Ms. Tan. The first step is financial education. Priorities have to be drawn up. Old habits that die hard must be taken out of the way.

Thus, Ms. Tan said, BanKo started with a core group, notably the overseas Filipino workers.

Those who send money home through the remittance centers of the Bank of the Philippine Islands are encouraged to start a savings account.

Today, the group has an estimated one million OFW depositors.

BanKo then fanned out to the other groups, notably the cooperatives, rural banks which are supposed to be competitors, non-government organizations and the like.

The like includes pawnshops, drugstore chains, money changers, pawnshops. They are BanKo’s outlets which accept initial deposits of as low as P50.

After a while, Ms. Tan said, she observed that the minimum (also initial) balance of P50 had gone up to P1,000.

The project is catching fire. Small people go to BanKo and its outlets with coins and small change to deposit; there are at least 75,000 accounts in this category.

According to Ms. Tan, this is the group that needs maximum help and protection.

That is why, she explained, the small depositor is provided or may be provided with life insurance five times the balance of the savings account, together with other covers such as fire, flood, and earthquake, for a maximum benefit of P10,000.

According to Ms. Tan, a small borrower who has no appreciation of accounting practices hardly knows that he may be in a business with the highest return on equity.

Citing an example, Ms. Tan talked about a man in small tuna trading in General Santos in Mindanao. The man buys one big fish weighing several kilos. He goes to the market and sells the fish for Pl,200 on a capital of P1,000.

The man goes to BanKo or its outlet, pays back the P1,000 he borrowed to buy the tuna but leaves P50 to add to his deposits. He walks home with P150 in profits earned by the sweat of his brows and with the help of BanKo or its outlet.

NATCCO eyes expansion in next 5 years

NATCCO eyes expansion in next 5 years

INQUIRER.net
10:20 pm | Saturday, May 26th, 2012

CEBU CITY – The National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO) is holding its 11th Cooperative Congress and 35th General Assembly on May 25 to 27 at the Waterfront Hotel. Attending are more than 600 representatives from member-cooperatives in the three major islands of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

To be discussed are internal business matters of the Network’s operations all over the Philippines. However, the highlight of the General Assembly will be the report of the Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Sylvia O. Paraguya. Paraguya has reported a 25% increase in Assets, 16% growth in membership, significant expansion in deposits and loans released to member cooperatives, and greater member participation in its services like the Stabilization Fund and its youth program, Aflatoun, uptrend in the number of transactions of the Pinoy Coop ATMs, the increasing emphasis on Financial Literacy and Social Performance Management in its operations, and the Network’s strengthening of linkages with other cooperative federations.

Included in the agenda is the adoption of the new Vision and Mission of the NATCCO Network, first proposed at a Strategic Planning held in Antipolo, Rizal on March 23 & 24, 2012. It was attended by more than 40 staff, management, and directors of the Network, past and present.

The Network has launched its Electronic Fund Transfer-Point-of-Sale (EFT-POS), which offers a collection system that is efficient and minimizes fraud. It also provides other transactions like balance inquiry, withdrawal, deposits, inter-branch and inter-cooperative fund transfers.

Also launched was the Consultancy Services to members, which provides a complete package that covers virtually every aspect of cooperative operations: strategic planning, credit management, operations manual, internal control, human resource management, marketing and more. This is being implemented in cooperation with Canadian cooperative federation Developpement Internationale Desjardin (DID).

More than 500 cooperative leaders from all over the country attend the opening ceremonies of the General Assembly of the 35th National Confederation of Cooperatives at the Waterfront Hotel Cebu City. The leaders will discuss the general direction that NATCCO will take in the next five years. JEFF MENDOZA

Outgoing Chairman, Reynaldo A. Gandionco, will also give his final report, since it is his last term. Gandionco took over as Board Chair in February 2009. Gandionco is also Chair of the Fairchild Cebu Community Credit Cooperative.
Paraguya took over the reigns as CEO beginning in August 2009.

This year’s theme is the same as that of the International Year of Cooperatives as declared by the United Nations: “Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better World.”

In building a better world, Paraguya said that NATCCO’s thrust will always be to build a safe and sound federation. “This is important as the member cooperatives want to see NATCCO as a model of excellence; this excellence inspires trust among the members, within the co-op sector in the Philippines, and internationally,” she said.

The NATCCO Network was established in 1977. NATCCO today is the largest cooperative federation in the country in terms of assets and array of services offered to members, with 530 member-cooperatives.

“Our Network aims to remain a financially safe and sound federation, build safe and sound cooperatives, give quality services to members, remain a happy and rewarding place to work in, and promote cooperativism in communities, among cooperatives, both locally and internationally,” Paraguya said.

Big Next-Level Push Needed By Local Electric Vehicle Industry

Big Next-Level Push Needed By Local Electric Vehicle Industry

By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT

May 24, 2012, 10:04pm

MANILA, Philippines — The electric vehicle industry in the Philippines, being a sunrise industry, needs one big push to bring it to the next level.

This is the assessment of Rommel Juan, president of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP), the organization of EV stakeholders in the country.

“Despite various initiatives, mostly by the private sector, we still are not exactly there yet. We still need advancements in EV technology, the right infrastructure specifically charging stations, better batteries and faster-charging technology and most importantly, government support in terms of incentives not only for the manufacturers but for end-users as well”, he says.

Initiatives in electric vehicle in the Philippines were first seen in the early 2000s when enthusiasts started converting AUVs and tricycles to full electric EVs. Different technologies and configurations were experimented upon. A few electric bicycles from China were also brought in. Very little progress was made however and the demand was nil.

It was in the late 2000s when significant developments were seen. With some NGOs and LGUs at the forefront, electric jeepneys, motorcycles and scooters were brought into the country and tested. The Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (MVPMAP) was commissioned to locally design, develop, fabricate and assemble the electric jeepney.

Ferdi Raquelsantos, president of both MVPMAP says that today, eJeepneys can be found in Pasig, Quezon City, Cebu, Bicol, Los Baños, Cavite, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Batangas, Palawan, Ilocos region, Boracay and other urban areas. “And we continue to locally design and assemble eJeepneys to a niche market of transport and shuttle service operators”, he says.

“The eJeepneys used in the Makati Green Route is the first eJeepneys to receive the orange EV license plates from the LTO. It was also the very first mass transport EV operation to receive a franchise from LTFRB,” he adds.

Many initiatives on the use of other EVs such as the electric tricycles (eTrikes) were also undertaken in Taguig, Surigao, Puerto Princesa, Boracay and Mandaluyong. Meralco and a few other companies tried out the electric quadricycle (eQuad), a four-wheeled version of the tricycle but with a steering wheel. Just recently, Victory Liner brought in the very first electric bus (eBus) into the country. Collectively, there are now about 400 EVs all over the archipelago.

This year, one of the most important developments in the EV industry is the availability of a funding of $450 million from the Asian Development Bank to finance the replacement of conventional tricycles into eTrikes starting with Metro Manila. There are about 3.5 million tricycles in the Philippines, with about 200,000 of them concentrated in Metro Manila. The first phase of this ADB eTrike program aims to replace about 50,000 of these gasoline-powered tricycles into eTrikes.

But Juan says that despite all of these private-sector initiatives, the local EV industry still does not have what it takes to be globally competitive. “Our technology is still limited. We need to have faster-charging batteries coupled with a suitable fast charging technology and the compatible battery management system. We need to improve the EV mileage per full charge. We also still have not applied the regenerative braking system, among other things. More importantly, we still do not have the much-needed infrastructure in place such as charging stations in public areas. We still need to do a lot of things and this is where we badly need government support in terms of incentives for EV investors, manufacturers and end-users”, he says.

“We at EVAP are elated that Congress has recently passed a bill on alternative fueled vehicles, granting incentives to manufacturers and buyers of AFVs, including EVs. A counterpart bill sponsored by Sen. Ralph Recto is now being deliberated on in the Senate and we do hope that this bill will be approved in the soonest possible time, especially now that the legislative year is drawing to a close. This is the one big push that the local EV industry has long been waiting for to bring it to the next level,” Juan adds.

He says that it is in this light that the local EV stakeholders recently banded together to form the EVAP. “We want to be the voice of the EV industry. As a collective force, we will try to push for vital legislations that the EV industry needs to move on at a faster pace. As of now, we represent about 90% of the EV industry stakeholders – the manufacturers, assemblers, importers, suppliers, dealers, the academe and even plain enthusiasts”, he adds.

Juan said that EVAP is confident that although the Philippines does not currently lead the region in EV technology, it has made giant steps in terms of market development and product acceptance. “We are now at the crossroad, we need to take advantage of the momentum derived from our various individual and collective initiatives to get maximum results. If we play our cards right and we have full government support, we can be the hub of EV supply in the region,” he concludes.

BSP, PDIC approve enhanced P5-billion program for rural banking industry

BSP, PDIC approve enhanced P5-billion program for rural banking industry

By Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star) Updated May 17, 2012 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) approved the enhanced and extended version of a P5-billion program aimed at strengthening the rural banking industry for faster consolidation in the banking industry through mergers and acquisition.

In a statement, the BSP and the government-owned deposit insurer approved an enhanced version of the Strengthening Program for Rural Banks (SPRB) launched in 2010 by now offering incentives to commercial banks and well-managed thrift banks intending to acquire ailing rural banks.

The enhanced program dubbed as the Strengthening Program for Rural Banks Plus (SPRB Plus) now includes strong and well-managed commercial banks and thrift banks as among eligible Strategic Third Party Investor (STPI) or so-called “white knights” that would be entitled to incentives when investing in problematic country-side based banks.

In the original SPRB that is scheduled to expire in August this year, only strong rural banks were allowed to act as white knights of other rural banks and with a more limited incentive package.

“This program is envisioned to further strengthen the rural banking system, boost confidence, and improve the delivery of financial services to rural communities,” the BSP and PDIC said in the joint statement.

SPRB Plus offers a variety of financial and regulatory relief and incentives to improve the prospects for success of new banking partnerships. It would take effect until end next year.

Under the enhanced program, PDIC could extend financial assistance to augment capital shortfalls and attract new investors while the BSP has also put on the table an expanded package of regulatory relief and branching incentives for commercial, thrift, and rural bank that step forward as “white knights.”

The SPRB Plus expects eligible “white knights” not only to sustain and strengthen the financial condition of resulting banks but also to improve their quality of corporate governance and management.

Both BSP and PDIC have received strong expressions of interest from a number of players in the industry to take part in the SPRB Plus indicating the strong buy-in of the banking sector to strengthen the system.

PDIC has received 17 applications for the current SPRB involving 31 rural banks as of end-March this year. Four of these applications have been approved by the PDIC Board and two are in process.

The state-run deposit insurer took over 29 banks last year led by the Aguirre-controlled Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank and LBC Development Bank of the Aranata clan as more problematic banks were ordered closed by the BSP. A total of 25 rural banks ceased to operate in 2011.

On the other hand, four consolidations were completed last year including Bangko Buena and Rural Bank of Dao; Rural Bank of Guimba and Rural Bank of Hamtic; Rural Bank of Alabang and Rural Bank of Mansalay; and One Network Rural Bank and Rural Bank of New Corella.

Gov't urged to provide nationwide 'wireless' health access

Gov't urged to provide nationwide 'wireless' health access

By Tam Noda (philstar.com) Updated May 24, 2012 03:16 PM

MAKATI CITY, Philippines - Announcing today the expansion of the Wireless Access for Health (WAH) project initiated by the people of Tarlac province, local officials urged the national government to support their project to improve health care in the Philippines using 3G technology.

Officials in the town of Gerona in Tarlac, who initiated WAH in 2009, made the announcement in a press briefing in Makati City together with representatives from the Department of Health (DoH), Tarlac Provincial Health Office and IT company Qualcomm Incorporated.

Local Tarlac government officials have committed to support the replication of the WAH project across the entire province by the end of 2012.

Dennis Norman Go, the mayor of Gerona town in Tarlac where the first WAH project came to life, said the national government and local government should be partners in fulfilling the mandate of delivering quality healthcare and that Tarlac is a shining example that LGUs can do it.

Go said the expansion targets to reach 38 healthcare centers in Tarlac province by end of 2012.

WAH partners explained that traditionally, information has been manually recorded on paper by health care providers – a time consuming and error prone process that is difficult to access and manage.

The Philippine Field Health Service Information System (FHSIS) is the government’s primary method for managing public health data and is used for policy analysis and planning at all levels of the public health system.

The WAH project streamlines the reporting process and improves access to accurate and timely patient information for clinicians and decision makers by utilizing 3G wireless technology, building upon and strengthening the existing Community Health Information Tracking System (CHITS), an electronic medical records system developed by the University of the Philippines, Manila.

Since the project began in July 2009, WAH partners have established CHITS as their own electronic medical record (EMR) platform and successfully expanded implementation from four rural health units to 21 health clinics in the Tarlac Province, serving more than 1,500 patients a day.

As of April 2012, more than 109,000 patient consultations have been captured by the system, resulting in improved patient and increased number of patient visits as a result of efficiencies that have reduced the four to five minutes needed to search paper records to just seconds.

Due to the success of the pilot project, the Tarlac Provincial government has committed staffing and financial resources to replicate the project in all 38 health provincial clinics, which will make Tarlac the first and only province in the Philippines to have all of its health clinics interconnected and running on a health information system.

“Wireless Access for Health empowers local health care providers through enhanced patient care services and efficient patient visits using an open-source health information system. It empowers local communities by promoting participatory health planning among local leaders, health managers and providers, thereby transforming clients and patients into partners,” said Crispinita Valdez, director of the Department of Health Information Management System Division.

Yet for Ricardo Ramos of the Tarlac Provincial Health Office, the WAH initiative is a means to deliver quality health services to clients, aid health workers and local and national governments by promoting data-driven planning and sound decision-making.

“Timely transmission of complete and reliable health data to local and national health agencies and government leaders facilitates policy analysis and allows faster program implementation, assisting local leaders and health workers in identifying and preventing disease outbreaks through preventive care, strategic health promotions and advocacy campaigns,” Ramos said.

WAH's expansion will also include province-wide pilot testing of the Mobile Midwife and SPASMS (Synchronized Patient Alert via SMS) applications.

The Mobile Midwife enables data to be captured electronically during patient visits via smartphones, tablets or laptops and instantly sends patient data to the CHITS system.

SPASMS is an automated alert and health promotions system that sends patients information related to important health milestones such as for prenatal care and child immunization. To date, 26 midwives are participating in the Mobile Midwife program and 1,100 SPASMS have been sent to more than 250 patients.

WAH is made possible through the collaboration of public-private partners such as agencies from the DoH including the National Epidemiology Center, the Information Management Service and the Center for Health Development for Region 3; the Provincial Government of Tarlac; local Tarlac government units; Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach initiative; RTI International; Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART); Tarlac State University; the University of the Philippines Manila-National Telehealth Center; and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Mantosh Malhotra, director of Business Development for Qualcomm, said WAH demonstrates the extraordinary benefits that 3G wireless connectivity can bring to underserved communities, particularly in the area of wireless health care.

“We hope that what has been achieved so far will encourage the expansion of this innovative network to benefit hundreds of thousands throughout the Philippines,” Malhotra said.

2011 SSS salary-loan releases reach P15.8B

2011 SSS salary-loan releases reach P15.8B

TUESDAY, 22 MAY 2012 20:18 JONATHAN MAYUGA / CORRESPONDENT

Some 1.06 million Social Security System (SSS) members were granted salary loans in 2011, with total disbursement amounting to P15.8 billion.

The amount was 41 percent higher than the P11.17 billion the SSS released in 2010 for over 803,000 member-borrowers.

“The salary loan is among the most popular SSS programs, with loan releases growing at an average rate of 14 percent for the past five years,” SSS Officer in Charge Edgar Solilapsi observed. “The fact that the number of borrowers has hit the 1-million mark shows the tremendous personal need that our salary loans fill in our members’ lives.”

The SSS salary loan is a privilege granted to active members with at least 36 monthly contributions, six of which must be within the 12-month period prior to the month of loan application. Salary loans are payable in two years in 24 equal monthly installments at 10-percent annual interest.

The last time the number of borrowers reached 1 million was in 2009, when 1.29 million members availed of the salary loan.

“Majority of the salary loan borrowers in 2011 were employees. Only 9 percent of the P15.8 billion, or P1.47 billion, went to self-employed and voluntary members, including overseas Filipino workers,” Solilapsi added. “These numbers highlight the value of active SSS membership, since only those who are updated in their SSS payments are entitled to salary loans.”

SSS reminded members to ensure that their salary loans are repaid on time. Salary loan delinquency has long been a problem for the pension institution, which is the reason behind its latest offering of the Loan Penalty Condonation Program.

Under this new amnesty program, members are given the opportunity to pay their overdue obligations and have 50 percent to 100 percent of their accumulated penalties written off. The program opened ON April 2 and will run until September 30.

“We urge members with delinquent loans to take advantage of this opportunity before the program ends on September 30. Otherwise, they will have to pay the full amount of penalties, and possibly have their total loan balance deducted from final benefit claims, which by then could balloon to the tens of thousands,” said Solilapsi.

From a balut vendor to a supplier

From a balut vendor to a supplier

Despite the spiraling cost of living, Nenita Solon of barangay Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City, is not losing hope for a better future for her family as she gains headway in her balut trade today. Not that life for this 46-year-old wife and mother has been easy. But she believes that it is possible for one to achieve a better quality of life through a no-nonsense dedication to one's occupation, hard work, patience,thrift and determination to succeed.

Nenita, who is Neneth to friends,had a long, tiring day yesterday tending to the demands of her growing balut business, retiring quite late. Yet today, she was up by 4:30 a.m.for yet another day of the trade that has come to ease economic pressure of her family and which she finds potentials of success.

As soon as she got out of bed, she looked at her record of the previous day's work-how much was remitted by the balut vendor against the number of balut she disposed. She saw that most of her vendors have paid promptly. By 5 a.m., she was ready to cook the eggs for distribution later in the day. She cleans the eggs in a big basin half-filled with water. By 2 p.m., a long line of vendors wouid form before- her four-by-six meter-shop.Nenita disposes from 300 to 600 baluts daily from which she nets an average of P500 a day.

Neneth, who took three years of agriculture in college, is a natural entrepreneur. Her husband worked as school watchman in the town of Bilar, Bohol. Neneth helped her husband by selling homemade goodies such as buko bar, turon, fruit cake, yema candies and polvoron. Between them, the two were able to send their two daughters to college, both taking commerce courses. The elder: daughter failed to get her degree because she got married, but the younger daughter completed the course.

"I engaged in whatever possible business there was," Neneth said in Cebuano. She said she often came up to userers, specially for money to pay her girls' tuition fees.

But in 2001, she was able to take out a P10,000-loan to start a balut trade. Then, her life started to change for the better.
"Lahi na gyud karon nga na-miyembro na ko sa coop (My membership with a co-op made the difference)," she said, referring to the Mindanao Savings & Credit Cooperative (MinSave), a member borrower of the Federation of Pcople's Sustainable Development Cooperative (FPSDC). Compared to the sky-high interest rates charged by the 5-6 lenders, MinSave charges only 24%,o 27% per annum to their member-borrowers.

Neneth used the loan from MinSave to buy 18-day old baluts from Vaiencia, Bukidnory at P5 each. She then sold the eggs at P6.50 each to balut vendors. When she proved to be a good payor, MinSave let her borrow a bigger loan of P35,000 in 2003.
"Ako lang pagka-tawo ng akong gi-capital sa MinSave (I used my own person as collateral with MinSave)," she said. Malu Alipoyo, branch manager of MinSave Carmen (Cagayan de Oro City), said that Neneth alwavs did pay promptiy.

The bigger loan from MinSave allowed Neneth to expand_her balut trade. Instead of going around to sell the eggs, she bought a three-boxed incubator which could contain as many as 12,000 fresh eggs, which allowed her to become a suppiier to other balut vendors. More and more balut vendors (including trisikad drivers and, students during school break) came up to her applying as balut vendor.

Neneth said that two high school students, of ages 13 and 74, get balut from her. Each owns over P100 a day. "Kagahapon, nalipay gyud sila kay nakapalit sila og bag-ong t-shirts gikan sa ilang kita" (They are happy since yesterday they were able to buy new tshirts from their earnings,) she said.

To encourage them and help them earn a good income, Neneth supplies some of her vendors with steamers (a gas stove keeping the baluts hot). She says she is trying to compete with big suppliers from as far as the cities of Cotabato and Ozamis who also supply balut to Cagayan de Oro. These traders,says Neneth, sometimes undercut their competitors by slashing their selling price.

Neneth is now saving to buy additional incubators and other needed equipment. "Perhaps, a delivery car,'she quipped.
"Ang challenge nako sa uban nga ilang tagaan og pagtagad ang negosyu ug dili madiscourage kung medyo kini mohinay (I challenge others to try entrepreneurship and should not become discouraged if ever their business slows down)," she said.

"Kinahanglan usab ang kakugi, gamay nga pag-antus ug pagdaginot apilan sa pag-ampo(Hard work, thrift, a little patience, and prayers are also needed)," she concluded. -Yul S. Caringas

BPI plans entry into SME agribiz lending business

BPI plans entry into SME agribiz lending business

THE COUNTRY’s second largest lender, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), is looking at extending loans to small- and medium-sized agribusinesses and is seeking the help of the World Bank’s private sector investment arm, International Finance Corp. (IFC), to gain competence in this arena.

“These are early days, but we are looking at expanding our collaboration with the IFC, and one area we are looking at is the agribusiness space,” said Alfonso L. Salcedo, Jr., BPI executive vice president and corporate banking group, after the signing of a grant agreement with the IFC yesterday.

BPI and the IFC are presently partners in a program that extends loans to small- and medium-sized firms undertaking clean energy and energy efficiency projects. IFC extends investment advisory services and guarantees part of the loans given by BPI.

The two yesterday signed the agreement covering the $1.24-million grant that BPI won as one of the global winners of the IFC-administered G-20 SME Finance Challenge.

For the agricultural loans program, Mr. Salcedo said BPI may ask IFC to give investment advisory or enter into a risk sharing arrangement.

“We can do agri-related loans but we don’t have the level of comfort for lending because we do not have the expertise in lending to the agri space. With the expansion of our partnership with the IFC, could get into that space,” Mr. Salcedo added.

BPI’s outstanding loans to the agriculture sector presently totals to just around P10 billion.

“We lend through cooperatives and to end-users at present. End-users are the owners of feedmills, factories and distributors, among others,” Nanette A. Biason, BPI assistant vice president, said at the sidelines of the same event.

“We don’t have direct lending to farmers, we use cooperatives as our conduits to small farmers,” she added.

For his part, Jesse O. Ang, IFC resident representative to the Philippines, said: “We are a tropical country so we can grow a lot of [crops] here. And we have a lot of issues to deal with such as the Agri-Agra Law. We also need to support the farmers with knowledge and financing.”

“What we would like to do is to look into the agribusiness space, primarily on the advisory side... We have people who understand agri financing,” he added.

Republic Act 10000 or the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act of 2009 orders banks to set aside at least 25% of their total loanable funds for agriculture and agrarian reform.

BPI President Aurelio R. Montinola III, at the sidelines of the signing ceremonies yesterday said: “We have an interest in the agriculture sector... but BPI tends to cautiously go into the sector because there is unfamiliarity. That is why we are seeking the help, particularly investment advisory, of the IFC.”

“We are entering a space where the more you do this kind of financing, then the more you can avoid mistakes moving forward,” he added.

Regarding BPI’s $1.24-million grant, Ms. Biason said it will be used to “improve the market’s awareness through education of SMEs in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.”

“It will also be used to enhance the capacity of the bank’s lending group through training and marketing tools to provide better financing and technical services to clients,” she added. -- ARRG

Enhanced SPRB launched

THRIFT and commercial banks have been added to the list of “white knights” to problematic rural banks, in an enhancement of a program designed to strengthen the rural banking sector.

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