City, BSP ink agreement on CSF implementation

CEBU, Philippines - In line with the country’s advocacy to further help Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the Philippines, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas together with the support of the Cebu City government and other partners signed yesterday the Memorandum of Agreement on the implementation of the Credit Surety Fund.

The CSF is a project of BSP to help MSME operators that are members of their accredited cooperatives be able to have more opportunities such as to expand their businesses.

It enables members of cooperatives to avail of a loan from the banks without the collaterals.

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said that this was their way of helping the industry that has played a big role in the country’s economy with MSME businesses accounting to 99 percent of the businesses in the Philippines.

Tetangco said that they have also noted of the enthusiasm of the Cebuano Cooperatives in the program since the contribution made by the cooperatives is the biggest from all over the Philippines that reached to P30 Million.

Contributions are made by the different cooperatives and counterpart contributions are also given by the city government and the donor institutions as well.

For Cebu, P12.1 million was contributed by the cooperatives and P10 million was given by the city government. This is the biggest contribution made in the three regions where the CSF was already launched.

Development Bank of the Philippines, Landbank of the Philippines and the Industrial Guarantee and Loan Fund pledged to contribute for the fund as well.

The loan applicant should be a member of the cooperative with a deposit of 10 percent of his requested amount to be borrowed. The cooperative would be the one to submit his application to the bank.

According to Tetangco, the biggest loan approved already reached P10M while the lowest was P300,000. Another P36 million worth of loans are already being processed.

Tetangco said that this would not only help the cooperatives and its members but also the banks as well as the local government.

He said that this would also give a boost in the economy through labor assistance as more businesses would mean more employees needed.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña said that this was a “positive and bold step to change the system” and this would greatly benefit the businessmen who are not given a chance to show of their potential due to financial constraints.

Osmeña said that this is in line with the aim to continuously help the MSME players in Cebu city and that they are happy to support the CSF through the contribution of the city because this is “putting our money where our mouth is.”

Francisco Fernandez, who spoke in behalf of the 16 cooperatives, said that they were very grateful for the program since it would open the doors of commercial banks for MSME players.

He said that this would be beneficial for them as the process of the loans is very easy and simple. He said that this would certainly turn into a positive effect not only for the entrepreneurs but for the “economic development of the city and the country.”

The cooperatives that would have an initial chance for the CSF are the Bacayan Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Catmon Community Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Cebu People’s MPC, Cebu Market Vendors Development Cooperative, Central Visayas Government Employees MPC, CTPL Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Energizer Credit Cooperative, Mandaue City Public Market Vendors Multi-Purpose Cooperative, National Confederation of Credit Cooperative, New generation Network Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Osmeña -Manalili Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Pagtambayayong Foundation Inc., Sibonga Multi-Purpose Cooperative, and Society of Realty firms Credit Cooperative.