Landbank extends P229.8 billion loans to agriculture sector in January

MANILA, Philippines — State-run Land Bank of the Philippines has extended P229.83 billion in loans to the agriculture sector in January, already meeting 86.5 percent of its target for the whole year, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Monday.

The DOF, citing a report from Landbank president and chief executive officer Cecilia Borromeo, said the bank has assisted 17,681 small farmers and fishers in January, bringing the total number of clients in the sector to 1.05 million as of end-January.

This translated to P229.38 billion in loan releases during the month, which is equivalent to 86.5 percent of the P265 billion goal for full-year 2020.

Borromeo said Landbank is on track to achieving its target of assisting two million small farmers and fishers by the end of 2020.

According to Landbank data, P136.18 billion of the total loans released by the bank went to small, medium and large agribusiness enterprises.

Another P53.31 billion was released to help finance agriculture and aqua-related projects of local government units and government-owned and-controlled corporations.

Landbank said P38.53 billion was given through conduits, such as cooperatives, farmers’ associations and rural financial institutions, while P1.36 billion was released directly to farmers and fishers.

Meanwhile, cumulative releases under the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) amounted to P1.42 billion as of Jan. 31.

Loans issued under the DA’s Socialized Credit Program, in line with the Sugarcane Industry Development Act (SIDA), also reached P130 million; while releases under the Expanded Rice Credit Assistance-Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ERCA-RCEF) amounted to P410 million.

Farmers and fishers also received P2.28 billion in funding support under the Survival and Recovery Assistance Program (SURE-Aid).

ERCA-RCEF and SURE-Aid were implemented to provide support to farmers following the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law.

In addition, Landbank said cumulative releases under the Credit Assistance Program-Program Beneficiaries Development (CAP-PBD) administered for the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) amounted to P580 million.