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By Maricel E. Burgonio Reporter
The Development Bank of the
Philippines pushes for liberalization of its financing facilities to
help lift the fishing industry in Visayas.
“We have dropped our interest
rates to 7 percent per annum for the first two years for SLDP
[Sustainable Logistics Development Program] projects,” DBP
President and Chief Executive Officer Reynaldo G. David said in a
statement.
The program is DBP’s flagship
initiative to help improve the competitiveness of the fishing
industry and other related businesses such as cold storage
facilities, refrigerated transport and related handling equipment as
well as temperature-controlled facilities and equipment.
DBP has allocated an initial
amount of P2 billion under SLDP to support the modernization of the
fishing industry’s facilities and equipment.
The upgrade of the industry
covers the acquisition of fishing boat, fish carriers, modern
fishing gear and equipment, and cold chain/storage facilities.
The loan repayment is up to 10
years inclusive of a 2-year grace period, with maximum loan amount
of up to 80 percent of the total project cost. DBP has supported
development projects amounting to P9.7 billion in the Visayas
region.
The SLDP is an investment
financing facility for a comprehensive transport and related
infrastructure and support services.
The program involves projects for
the Ro-ro terminal system, Grains Highway, and the Cold Chain
Highway and aims to reduce the cost of transport and commodities,
and promote more efficient and effective handling and storage of
foods, especially perishables.
David also said that Visayas-based
exporters can avail of DBP’s hedging program to cushion the
negative effects of the rising peso on the export industry.
The two products available under
the program includes foreign-exchange (FX) insurance and forward FX
rate protection.
The FX insurance provides
exporters the ability to benefit from peso depreciation or protect
themselves from losses during peso appreciation.
The forward FX rate protection,
meanwhile, is a forward foreign-exchange contract where only the net
difference between the agreed dollar/peso forward rate and the
market rate shall be settled a maturity,
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