SMEs get P2B in loans under DTI financing program

Barely two months after its implementation, the SME Unified Lending Opportunities for National Growth (SULONG), a financing program under the National SME Development Plan, has approved a total of P2 billion worth of loans to 8,607 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country.

With the Department of Trade and Industry as its lead implementor, SULONG has targeted P10 billion in loans to the SME sector in the next six monhs and P30 billion for the next 12 months.

The funds for the program were committed by government financial institutions (GFIs) – SB Corp., Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. (Quedancor), National Livelihood Support Fund (NLSF), People’s Credit Finance Corp. (PCFC), Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency (PhilExim), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Social Security System (SSS).

"The P2 billion approved for SME lending is a breakthrough as it effectively demonstrates the cooperation among all GFIs in the country to held the SMEs in the country," Trade and Industry Secretary Mar Roxas said.

SB Corp. loan approvals amounted to P192.75 million; NLSF – P34.25 million; PCFC – P385.24 million; LBP – P941.03 million; DBP – P262.35 million; PhilExim to P5.0 million; and Quedancor – P90.41 million.

Under the program, participating GFIs relaxed their lending requirements and simplified their credit evaluation process to make credit more accessible to SMEs nationwide. SULONG is one of the major components of President Arroyo’s eight-point agenda program for national development.

"Our efforts to push the economy through SMEs are bearing fruits. I am hopeful that our target to lend P10 billion will be reached in the next months," Roxas said.