ECONOMIC Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said on Friday the government is making the needed interventions to address trade finance gaps in the Philippines as part of global efforts to narrow the global trade finance deficit estimated at around $1.5 trillion every year.
At the sidelines of the 2018 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Group being held in Bali, Indonesia, Pernia said such efforts of the government were in the context of making financing more inclusive.
“We need to boost financial services to help our small and medium enterprises. More importantly, such services will establish an inclusive financial sector,” Pernia said.
Pernia said the Personal Property Security Act, among other government initiatives, strengthened the legal framework for the use of personal property as collateral, and establishes a modern, centralized online collateral registry.
The Personal Property Security Act was signed into law on Aug. 17.
“We expect this to make financing more accessible to Filipino SMEs, including export-oriented firms,” he said.
“The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is also strengthening retail payments systems by adopting the National Retail Payments Systems framework, or NRPS. This should facilitate more convenient, affordable, and secure electronic fund transfers and payments,” Pernia added.
He also said the government was increasing credit guarantees from P10 billion to P50 billion for SME exporters through the Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency, an attached agency of the Department of Finance.
PhilEXIM provides guarantees to facilitate foreign loans of export-oriented industries, public utilities, and those registered with the Board of Investments.