Palace OKs P4-billion worth of loans for MSMEs

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday approved the P4-billion emergency loan program for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to help businesses affected by the war in the Middle East.

“President Marcos has cleared a program for MSMEs in distress as a result of the global oil shock to avail of easy loans ranging from P30,000 to P20 million each,” Executive Secretary Ralph G. Recto said in a statement.

Mr. Recto added that the new government loan program is a “welcome development for MSMEs in light of the perennial credit squeeze in the country.”

Easy loans offer low interest rates and are repayable over five years, helping small businesses manage rising logistics costs, cash flow constraints, and supply chain disruptions amid the current oil crisis.

The financial assistance, to be implemented by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and its financing arm, Small Business (SB) Corp., also offers a one-year grace period on principal and interest payments.

Applicants can apply for the program online, and the processing takes seven to 10 days.

Citing the data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Mr. Recto noted that bank lending for MSMEs increased by 5% to PHP574.8 billion as of end-December 2025 from P546.22 billion in the same period a year ago.

This represents only 4.73% of the P12.143-trillion total bank loan portfolio in the country.

“The President has envisioned this loan program as a lifeline to MSMEs against the backdrop of limited access to financing, more so at this time of economic challenges sweeping the globe,” he said.

The local statistics agency said the MSMEs comprise about 99.6% of the locally registered businesses in the Philippines. Of which, 90% are micro enterprises, 10% are small, and 1% are medium.

The sector also accounts for about 65% of total employment in the country, as of 2023. — Almira Louise S. Martinez