MANILA, Philippines — The Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) has provided dividends of P29.4 billion to its members last year, equivalent to almost 94 percent of its net income for 2020.
Reporting on the accomplishments of the fund yesterday, Pag-IBIG Fund board of trustees chairman Eduardo del Rosario said this was a record high dividend allocation in proportion to the fund’s net income in a bid to return more to its members amid financial difficulties experienced during the pandemic.
The law mandates the fund to set aside at least 70 percent of its net income as dividends.
The fund’s dividend payout ratio has remained steady at 90 percent since 2016, with the exception of a brief drop to 85.63 percent in 2018.
Amid a more difficult environment, its net income fell to 31.18 billion from an all-time high of P34 billion in 2019.
As a result, members enrolled under its regular savings program earned a dividend rate of 5.62 percent, while those who saved under the Modified Pag-IBIG II program (MP2 Savings Program) earned 6.12 percent per annum in dividends.
With a lower net income for 2020, these dividends were lower than 6.73 percent for regular savings and 7.23 percent in MP2 Savings in 2019.
“Amid the difficulties in 2020, this is the fourth consecutive year that Pag-IBIG was able to book a net income above the P30 billion mark,” said Del Rosario.
“Since 2016, we have strived to declare the highest percentage of our net income as dividends while ensuring capital adequacy. In 2020, this is the highest ever percentage of the fund’s annual net income.”
During the enforcement of the strict community quarantine last year, Pag-IBIG Fund implemented a three-month moratorium on loan payments covering around 320,000 housing loans from March 16 up to June 15.
It likewise, slashed its housing loan rates to record lows which encouraged a gradual recovery in loan take up by June.