MORE than 800 businesses, majority of which are micro and small enterprises (MSEs), borrowed a total of P41.3 billion from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) to finance their working capital amid the economic challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement, the state-run bank said it recorded a total of 825 borrowers nationwide under its “interim rehabilitation support” lending program that sought to fast-track the recovery of local businesses and cooperatives from the Covid-19 pandemic. LandBank said the total number of borrowers included 549 MSEs, 134 cooperatives, seven microfinance institutions, and 135 large enterprises. As of end January 31, the bank has approved P41.3 billion worth of loans under the its lending program.
“LandBank remains committed to supporting the resurgence of pandemic-hit businesses and cooperatives. We will continue to serve their financial requirements to further advance the country’s ongoing economic recovery,” the bank’s President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo was quoted in the statement as saying.
LandBank said the lending program was launched at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and was designed to provide borrowers “timely” financial aid at “concessional” terms that included “a longer repayment period, moratorium on principal and interest payments and lower interest rates.”
Eligible borrowers under the lending program could loan up to 85 percent of their emergency or permanent working capital requirements, with an interest rate of 7 percent fixed for one year and subject to annual repricing thereafter.
The state-run lender extended its lending program for businesses until December of this year “to accommodate more potential borrowers,” the bank said.