DBP remits P520-M worth of dividends to NG

The Development Bank of the Phils. (DBP) remitted over the weekend to the National Government dividends worth P520 million for the year 2000.

DBP president Remedios L. Macalincag told The STAR that the total remittances to the National Government represented 25 percent of the bank’s net earnings for 2000.

DBP’s net earnings for last year were recorded at P1.46 billion while this year’s target was P1.6 billion. Macalincag expressed relief that the Department of Finance (DOF) agreed and subsequently recommended to the Office of the President that the DBP remits dividend of its earnings instead of the 50 percent earlier required by government.

"If we were forced to issue a 50 percent dividend of our 2000 net earnings, it would constrain us from our lending. A 50 percent dividend would have amounted to over P1-billion, and that would have been a big reduction from our resources which otherwise should have been used for lending in our development programs," Macalincag said.

DBP officials admitted they would again campaign for another reduction in their required dividends for 2001 "so that we will have a considerable amount for lending."

DBP has a P53.9-billion fund allocated for development projects through its wholesale and retail lending facilities. Sources of the fund are the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the World Bank, the Japan Export-Import Bank, the Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau Credit Line for Small and Medium Enterprises (KfW-CLSME), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the local sources including the Social Security System (SSS) and the Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS).