THE Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) is seeking the grant of government guarantee on loans to be taken out by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to immediately address their liquidity concerns.
Benedicto Yujuico, PCCI president, said this will be an additional stimulus to MSMEs where government can recover the funds since the loans will be paid.
“This is not a doleout,” Yujuico said.
He added the PCCI can help set the guidelines for private banks and vouch for the track record and credit-worthiness of these MSMEs.
He said the banks will put a ceiling on the loans, and calibrate them based on the size of the enterprise and their sales but government can guarantee up to 100 percent of the loans.
He said fast processing and release of loans will be an immediate relief to MSMEs which badly need working capital to resume operations.
“We don’t have six months to wait to restart. The whole point is we have to streamline the delivery of assistance to MSMEs,” said Yujuico.
A P1.5 billion fund for MSMEs from SB Corp. is yet to process loans.
PCCI expressed concern processing of individual applications may take months.
The PCCI earlier sought for a one-year extension on the payment on principal and interest on loans frombanks and non-bank financial institutions falling due until Dec. 31, 2020.
