P5.2B worth of loans issued to pandemic-hit MSMEs — DTI chief Lopez

Some P5.2 billion in loans have been released by the government to small businesses affected by the restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Tuesday.

At the Laging Handa briefing, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the amount covered 33,200 loan applications that were approved by the Small Business Corp. (SB Corp.), the department’s financing arm.

“This number continues to increase,” he said, adding the department’s loan program for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) received an additional budget of P2.4 billion.

Lopez earlier said the hard-hit sectors during the pandemic included 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 in a statement last November.

The Philippine economy rose 11.8% year-on-year in the second quarter—the best quarterly performance in more than three decades—but still below the pre-pandemic level, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority last week. — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News