DBP beefing up microfinance operations to support gov’t thrust

http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS2006010253009.html

Manila Bulletin
Mon Jan 02,2006

State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is beefing up its microfinance operations in support of the national government’s thrust of promoting the growth of entrepreneurs in the country.

DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Reynaldo G. David said the bank has been holding dialogues with microfinance stakeholders in order to be more responsive to the needs of micro-entrepreneurs.

He cited recent meetings with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the National Credit Council that has helped DBP in the formulation of policies and business practices best suited to address the risks and opportunities involved in microfinance ventures.

David also said that DBP continued to provide financing assistance to various micro-finance institutions in the country such as the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) which was recently granted a P30-million loan assistance.

A non-stock, non-government organization that has been in the microfinance business for the past 18 years, CARD was ranked sixth best microfinance institution in the global microfinance category for outreach and sustainability by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP) of the World Bank in 2003. CARD currently has 80 branches nationwide and serves the financial needs of over 80,000 active members.

DBP has likewise released a total of R265 million to the People’s Credit and Finance Corporation (PCFC) to assist 34 microfinance institutions in funding the livelihood activities of micro-entrepreneurs across the country.

PCFC acts as the government’s lead agency in the delivery of micro-finance services for the poor by mobilizing financial resources from both local and foreign sources. It currently serves the funding requirements of 208 microfinance institutions and over a million micro-entrepreneurs.

David meanwhile expressed confidence that DBP’s Microfinance Program can more efficiently cater to the financing needs of microentrepreneurs and thus help the Bank further attain its developmental objectives. He added that the program will greatly facilitate the fulfillment of the national government’s objective of encouraging the growth of 3 million entrepreneurs by 2010.

The DBP Microfinance program supports microenterprise development by facilitating the access of poor and low-income households to formal credit and banking services to grow their small businesses, and thus enable them to raise income levels and improve their living standards.

Most clients are poor and low-income households involved in microenterprises, usually household-based businesses, such as trading/buy-andsell, servicing/service shops, and food processing.

The program may be accessed, through microfinance institutions (MFIs), by micro-entrepreneurs engaged in manufacturing, and agri-businesses, and similar livelihood projects.
DBP’s partner-MFIs include rural banks, cooperative banks, thrift banks, development banks, commercial banks, savings and loan associations, non-government organizations, credit unions, and cooperatives.