SMALL Business Corp. (SB Corp.) expects to receive more loan applications from the tourism sector following the easing of quarantine measure that allowed more mobility for travel.
In a statement on Thursday, the financing arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said demand for additional financing from the tourism industry is expected to rise as more business activities have resumed.
“We expect an increase in loan applications from the Travel and Tourism sector as the country removed last March 1 the restrictions in most interzonal domestic travel and the quarantine requirements for vaccinated international travelers,” SB Corp. President and CEO Luna Cacanando said.
In addition, the loan facility for the tourism sector now includes enterprises that are not accredited by the Department of Tourism. These include tourism support services and facilities.
“Lastly, the destruction brought about by Typhoon ‘Odette’ in major tourism areas in the country has increased the demand for CARES [Covid-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises] for Tourism and Travel loans,” she added.
SB Corp. disclosed that it has approved P278 million worth of loans for the tourism sector. As much as P524 million are currently undergoing processing.
As of end-2021, meanwhile, SB Corp. said the lending funds for the multi-sectoral micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) currently struggling because of the pandemic were fully utilized already.
“Of the P7.93-billion loan funds granted by the Bayanihan 2 Act to SB Corp. for MSMEs, P4 billion was set aside for travel- and tourism-related loans, and the rest or P3.93 billion were used for lending to multi-sectoral MSMEs or businesses in trading, manufacturing, services, agriculture and other sectors,” Cacanando said.
The lender said it has approved P5.9-billion loan to said MSMEs, which is more than the allotted P3.93 billion. The additional funding, Cacanando explained, came from internal sources of the SB Corp.
“In fact, SB Corp. has lent more to these MSMEs than what was provided for by the Bayanihan 2 Act and downloaded by DBM [Department of Budget and Management],” the SB Corp. official said.
SB Corp. said that only P8.08 billion of the P10-billion allocation by the Bayanihan 2 was released by the DBM.
“The travel and tourism sector has lagged behind the multi-sectoral MSMEs in availing of loan assistance from the government due to the effects of the prolonged lockdown in the tourism sector. The uptake of loans from tourism establishments has been very slow due to the series of lockdowns and the general uncertainty that had governed the sector the past two years,” Cacanando said.