DBP extends P696 M loan for Bataan infrastructure projects

MANILA, Philippines — State-run Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has extended P696 million in loans to the local government of Bataan to fund the implementation of various infrastructure projects in the province.

In a statement, the DBP said its chairman, Alberto Romulo, has recently signed a 10-year loan agreement with Bataan Governor Albert Garcia to support the province’s economic development.

The DBM said the loan covers the implementation of 26 road network projects, including farm-to-market roads and 20 flood control projects.

It will also be used for the construction of a two-story high school building and the establishment of day care centers.

DBP is the eighth largest bank in the country with total assets amounting to P700.9 billion as of end-September 2019.

It provides loans to strategic sectors such as infrastructure and logistics, small and medium enterprises, social services and community development, and the environment.

In the first nine months of 2019, the DBP broadened its support to priority sectors, disbursing P329.1 billion in loans or 33.8 percent more than the P246 billion posted a year ago.

The bulk of the bank’s loan portfolio went to the infrastructure and logistics sector, which accounted for nearly 40 percent of loan releases at P152 billion.

This was followed by social services which got loans amounting to P67.33 billion; environmental projects, with P44.6 billion; and micro, small and medium enterprises, with P24.6 billion.

According to the latest data, the bank’s net income in the first nine months of the year dipped by 1.56 percent to P4.42 billion from P4.49 billion in the same period last year.

Earlier, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez urged local government units to tap state-backed loan facilities to fund their infrastructure and development projects.

The finance chief said LGUs may tap Landbank’s Omnibus Term Loan Facility (OTLF) which is intended to fund infrastructure and socioeconomic projects listed in their approved Local Development Plan and Public Investment Program.

The OTLF eliminates the associated transaction costs in securing loans for projects to be implemented, according to Dominguez.

Dominguez said the DBP could also provide loans to finance priority projects of LGUs.