Small Business Corp. to process 15K MSME loans by December

The Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Small Business Corporation (SB Corp.) is set to process 15,000 loan applications before the year ends to aid the recovery of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) affected by the resulting lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“With the improvement in our evaluation and approval system, we are now able to increase our evaluation capacity to around 15,000 in a month. We have facilitated the processing to accommodate more MSMEs affected by the pandemic. We expect to release more loans to help businesses recover, especially as we gradually reopen the economy," Trada Secretary Ramon Lopez said.

Since the passage of Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act (Bayanihan1), the DTI said SB Corp., the department’s financing arm, has approved a total of 17,167 loan applications amounting to P1.25 billion through its Bayanihan COVID-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises (CARES) program.

During the Senate hearing of the DTI’s proposed 2021 budget , Senator Sonny Angara said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has already released to SB Corp a total of P8 billion of the P10 billion for MSMEs loans.

The release of the said amount is pursuant to the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2.

It was also clarified that since the fund is for the equity of SB Corp, the fund has no expiration date. 

"As we gradually reopen our economy, we’ve already seen signs of recovery. 95% of businesses have already reopened as of end-October, coming from 62% last June at the height of the lockdown," Lopez said.

"While there are good signs of recovery, we are not yet hitting pre-COVID levels, and understandably so, due to reluctance of some people to go out. In addition, there are still restrictions in some sectors, such as age, in the movement of people and curfew hours," he added.

The Trade chief noted that hard-hit sectors during the pandemic include tourism, transportation, entertainment, retail, and other non-essential sectors.

“If we want to accelerate the recovery of our economy, we need to build consumer confidence and save MSMEs from bankruptcy to retain jobs and sources of income. With more income, this means more spending, which will boost demand and economic activity,” he said.—LDF, GMA News