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Wednesday, September 22, 2004
PBSP strengthens program to provide loans to SMEs
By Jenny Molbog-Mendoza
WITH strict policies set by banks and other lending institutions before it would grant loans, a non-government organization has strengthened its program that aims to provide access to credit to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the countryside directly from the qualified intermediary financial institutions.
The Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), through its Small and Medium Enterprise Credit (Smec) program established in 1989, has been extending loans to small and medium enterprise borrowers through its accredited intermediary financial institutions, specifically thrift banks or rural banks.
Smec is a wholesale lending program using thrift banks and rural banks as conduits of funds provided by a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (Usaid) and a bilateral loan from the Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KFW) of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Beneficiaries of the program are those involved in manufacturing and agri-business, such as: light industrial manufacturing; light handicraft; woodworking; metal working; services (with social impact); agri-processing; agri-trading; and non-traditional agriculture production, which is pioneering in nature.
PBSP said those who can avail of this program should be citizens or permanent legal resident of the Philippines; corporations, partnerships, or business organizations, which are more than 50 percent-owned by Filipinos; have their principal place of business in the country, outside the National Capital Region (NCR); and have 100 percent privately-owned business with total assets of not more than P15 million at the time the loan is granted.
Moreover, PBSP said that for an SME to be eligible for loans, investments should be intended to start a new business or expand an existing business.
(September 22, 2004 issue)
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