Philguarantee Aims to Support 10,000 More MSMEs This Year

The Philippine Guarantee Corp. (Philguarantee) is aiming to support an additional 10,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) this year through its loan guarantee program. Philguarantee President and Chief Executive Officer Alberto E. Pascual stated, “Our growth is of course correlated with the growth of MSME lending by our partner banks and financial institutions. So if they grow by 10-15%, we expect (guarantees) to grow also by 10-15%,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the BusinessWorld Insights: Boosting the Philippine MSME Ecosystem forum last week. According to Philguarantee, the cumulative value of gross MSME loans it provided cover for hit P15.01 billion as of June, representing 80,880 beneficiaries. Philguarantee started guaranteeing MSME loans in 2020. “We started from a low base, so our growth was significant in the last several years now but the market is nearing maturity, so we should see just the standard growth of maybe 15%,” he said. The company has a P35-billion target for housing guarantees, he said, noting the importance of socialized housing. At the end of June, the value of housing loans guaranteed by Philguarantee had risen 9.44% to P343.39 billion. Philguarantee was among the largest government-owned and -controlled corporations in terms of dividend contributions in 2025. “We paid P1.8 billion. So we have a good bottom line. We’re able to contribute to the economy’s well-being by giving dividends to the National Government,” he said. Asked if the company is able to remit 75% of annual net earnings as dividends, he said: “I think we can. But of course we need to increase our capital so we can guarantee more MSME, housing and small-farmer loans.” — Justine Irish D. Tabile