BPI says agribusiness loans doubling to P24 B

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala-owned Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI) said it expects to double its agribusiness loans to P24 billion in the near term as it rolls out its newest product, BPI Agribusiness Solutions (BAS), to other parts of the country.

“We have about P12 billion portfolio on agri and we hope to be able to double that in three years, four years max with these solutions,” said BPI executive vice president and corporate banking group head Alfonso Salcedo Jr.

BPI is launching today (March 24) its BAS in Mindanao, starting with Davao.  Afterwards, the bank intends to expand the coverage of the loan product to Cagayan de Oro and Gen. Santos.

Conceptualized six months ago, BAS was launched in March this year to cater to the commercial poultry raisers and hog farmers which BPI calls as “agripreneurs”.

The product is being offered by BPI in partnership with Genus Pig Improvement Co. (Genus PIC), an international leader in providing genetically superior pig breeding stock and technical support for maximizing genetic potential to commercial pork producers.

The agriculture sector contributed 12.3 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011.

Salcedo explained that BAS is just like an ordinary loan being offered by BPI but this time, its partner PIC would come in to ensure that borrowers would be able to produce based on a program which will eventually lead to profitable business.

He said they could lend up to P200 million, of which P60 million will come in the form of equity from the borrower.