Credit Surety Fund loan releases hit P4.68B – BSP
Loans released under a public-private credit program for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have reached P4.68 billion as of April this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Friday.
Over 16,000 MSMEs have benefited from the Credit Surety Fund (CSF) initiative, which in nearly ten years has expanded to cover 32 provinces and 19 cities nationwide, the central bank said in a statement.
A new milestone will be marked on Monday as the 53th CSF will be launched in Digos City, Davao del Sur, it added.
“Ten qualified cooperatives signified their intent to join the Digos City CSF, contributing an aggregate amount of P2.0 million,” BSP said, adding that the city government had pledged another P2 million.
Partner institutions such as government financial institutions, and the Industrial Guarantee and Loan Fund are also expected to put up counterpart contributions to the Digos City CSF.
Initiated by the central bank in August 2008, the CSF is a credit enhancement program for MSMEs that cannot access bank credit because of the lack of hard collateral and credit histories.
The fund pools monetary contributions from cooperatives, non-government organizations, local government units and partner institutions.
The fund serves as alternative security in lieu of the hard collateral required by banks, thereby helping capital-short MSMEs with viable business plans gain access to bank financing.
The success of the program has led to alleged scams and the BSP recently warned the public not to deal with a company allegedly posing as an authorized CSF entity.
The central bank said it had not “certified CoopHub and/or any of its representatives” and “does not certify other [individuals or groups]to facilitate and implement…the CSF Program under Republic Act 10744, or the CSF Cooperative Act of 2015, and its implementing rules and regulations.”
On its website, CoopHub describes itself as “an umbrella organization of multisectoral groups of community leaders and volunteers” and claims to provide scholarship programs to accredited members in partnership with the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU).
The UPOU has denied this, accusing CoopHub of using the university’s name, logo, and pictures without authorization.
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