Loan releases under AMCFP up 151%

MANILA, Philippines - Loans released under the Agro-Industry Modernization Credit and Financing Program (AMCFP) surged by 151 percent in 2012 from a year ago because of the implementation of a mandatory deposit scheme.

Data from the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) showed that total loans made under the AMCFP reached P1.12 billion in 2012 from P446 million in 2011. The agency exceeded its loan release target for 2012 by four percent from the original target of P1.08 billion.

The AMCFP is the umbrella financing program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) mandated by the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) of 1997. The ACPC oversees the implementation of the program.

The Agri-Microfinance Program (AMP), on the other hand, released P137.8 million to 10,136 farmers and fisherfolk in 2012.

Implemented since 2009, the AMP is a joint program of the ACPC and the People’s Credit and Finance Corp. (PCFC). The program provides credit to qualified microfinance institutions for relending to individual borrowers from small farming and fishing households.

The implementation in 2012 of the Sikat Saka Program, which is jointly implemented by the ACPC and the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank), also contributed to the total loans granted under the AMCFP in 2012. The Sikat Saka Program released P49.2 million in loans to 764 rice farmers in 2012.

The Sikat Saka was set up in January 2012 for lending to small palay farmers in support of the DA’s Food Staples Sufficiency Program (FSSP). The program provides credit for palay production to eligible members of Irrigators’ Associations.

The Cooperatives Agri Lending Program (CALP), meanwhile, released loans amounting to P5.5 million to 159 borrowers in 2012.

The CALP, implemented starting March 2011, was a joint program of the ACPC and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) which provided a revolving credit line for cooperatives.