THE National Electrification Administration (NEA) has reduced the interest charged on the various loan programs offered to electric cooperatives (ECs) across the country.
The NEA Board approved to reduce the interest charges from 6.5 percent to 6 percent per annum, fixed for 10 years, subject to repricing at the end of the 10th year but not lower than 6 percent; from 6 percent to 5.5 percent per annum for repayment period of two years; and from 12 percent to 6 percent per annum, or 1 percent to 0.5 percent per month for short-term loans.
The interest rate for calamity loans of 3.25 percent and concessional loans of only 3.5 percent per annum, meanwhile, were maintained.
The decision was in response to the call of a number of legislators at the House of Representatives and ECs to scale back the interest rate on NEA loans to make them more competitive with commercial-bank rates.
“NEA will continue finding ways on how it can help ECs perform efficiently. With the reformed fiscal programs of NEA, the ECs will now have better options for their operations which will benefit the member-consumers,” NEA Administrator Edita Bueno said.
In 2015 the state-run agency extended loans totaling P2.019 billion to the various ECs under a number of loan programs.
For 2016 the NEA targets to extend P1.7 billion worth of loans to ECs. As of end-April, P788 million have already been released to 28 ECs.