Financing initiatives given to exporters seen to hit P10B

Financing initiatives extended to small, medium and large scale exporters and priority sectors of the country are expected to reach P10 billion by yearend, state guarantor Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency (PhilEXIM) reported yesterday.

The agency’s outstanding guarantees to small and medium enterprises and priority industries as of November have already reached P9.4 billion, PhilEXIM president and chief executive officer Virgilio Angelo said.

The guarantees are likely to increase with the expected guarantee accommodations of infrastructure, transport and tourism-related businesses that are already in the pipeline, he added.

 “Our business generation efforts are on-going even as we reach the tail-end of 2007. We expect that beginning next year, we have attained outstanding guarantees of P10 billion,” he said.

Foreign and local financing and multilateral institutions recognize PhilEXIM’s sovereign guarantee as a strong credit enhancer to sustain the growth and development of major projects in various industries.

For the whole year, PhilEXIM is looking at core business volumes of at least P7.36 billion.

Outstanding guarantees by end-November stood at P9.38 billion, registering a 73-percent growth compared with the 2006 level.

For 2008, PhilEXIM expects to extend a total of P12.24 billion in guarantees for road and airport infrastructure projects, large export business and tourism-related industries.

PhilEXIM, also known as the Trade and Investment Development Corp. of the Philippines (TIDCORP), is a government financial institution attached to the Department of Finance (DOF).

The corporation was established on Jan. 31, 1977 as the Philippine Export and Foreign Loan Guarantee Corp. (Philguarantee) through PD 1080. It was later renamed TIDCORP and granted expanded functions by RA 8494.

The corporation was officially designated as PhilEXIM through EO 85 dated March 18, 2002.