President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to pursue discussions with the Indian government on the issue of usurious lending practices involving Indian nationals operating in the country.
“I would not want to pick a quarrel with India. I would like to talk to the Indian government regarding these 5-6 [operators],” Duterte said in a late night press briefing in Davao City on Saturday.
The President said some traders who are into “5-6” require their clients to buy certain goods before lending them money.
“It’s okay that they lend money, but their new style is to lend the poor Filipino money, but they would first let them buy refrigerator, appliances. The hardships of the Filipino get doubled,” he added.
Duterte earlier said that discussions have been going on, at least at the ministerial level, as Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. met with the Indian charge d’affaires last January to discuss the subject.
The President said Filipinos had been experiencing such conditions but it had not been noticed for a long time.
In 1982, the Philippine government suspended the anti-usury law and the central bank removed the loan interest rates, thus leaving it up to the courts to decide what constituted excessive interest rates.
The Trade department said the government will initiate a P1-billion lending program designed to eliminate the so-called “5-6” loans with an affordable micro-financing for the country’s micro, small and medium enterprises.
The 2017 budget has included an initial funding of P1 billion for the program, part of the planned P19-billion financing initiative for micro and small businesses in the next five years.