Finance Secretary and Philippine Guarantee Corporation (PHILGUARANTEE) Chairperson Ralph G. Recto has commended the state firm for achieving double-digit growths in credit guarantee support and number of beneficiaries, underscoring its instrumental role in providing marginalized groups with access to finance.
“This robust performance is a testament to our country’s strong credit guarantee system. I congratulate the hard-working men and women of PHILGUARANTEE for ensuring that our small- and medium enterprises and marginalized sectors are given wider access to financing support, giving them the opportunity to grow alongside our economy,” he said.
The PHILGUARANTEE is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) resulting from the merger and consolidation of five Philippine Guarantee Programs and Agencies (PGPAs) under Executive Order No. 58, Series of 2018.
An attached agency of the Department of Finance (DOF), its core mandate is to provide credit guarantees, enabling easier loan access to support trade and investments, exports, infrastructure, energy, tourism, agricultural business/modernization, housing, micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and other priority sectors of the economy.
Since the merger in 2019, outstanding increases in guaranteed loans have been recorded, providing much-needed support for its priority sectors.
As of December 2023, its cumulative total guarantee portfolio reached PHP 236.98 billion, a 28.82% increase from the previous year.
This has benefited socialized/low-cost housing, MSMEs, and small farmers and fisherfolk, including those of the managed funds under the Corporation.
The guarantee support served a cumulative total of 426,378 beneficiaries last year, 27% higher compared to 2022.
The Corporation’s partner lending institutions (PLIs) also rose to 152 in 2023 from 131 in 2022, demonstrating stronger capital mobilization through the efficient use of guarantee facilities.
Meanwhile, PHILGUARANTEE’s financial performance continued to be robust, recording a historic high total revenue of PHP 5.32 billion in 2023, a 103% increase from the previous year.
These revenues were collected from guarantee fees and premiums, commitment fees, and the sales and/or rental of real estate assets.
On the other hand, PHILGUARANTEE’s dividend remittances to the national government in 2023 soared to a record-high of PHP 2.42 billion from PHP 746 million in 2022.
To date, total dividend remittances have reached PHP 4.03 billion since the merger in 2019.
To further strengthen its mandate, PHILGUARANTEE is finalizing its proposed changes to its charter in order to harmonize the laws, rules, decrees, and administrative orders covering the five PGPAs.
These are the Home Guaranty Corporation (HGC), Agricultural Guarantee Fund Pool (AGFP), Industrial Guarantee Loan Fund (IGLF), the guarantee operations of the Small Business Corporation (SB Corp.), and the surviving entity which is the Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency (PhilEXIM).
The changes will enable the PHILGUARANTEE to be more responsive to its thrust of providing credit supplementation and development financing objectives, particularly in key economic areas, where jobs and livelihood creation will be most felt.
Along with this, the state firm is implementing its Strategic Pillars and Sustainable Institutional Goals for 2023- 2025, which cover enhanced portfolio management, improvements in its process with a focus on digitalization, and building a stronger organization through personnel development.
It also targets sustaining a PHP 1.0 billion net income to ensure positive returns.
