State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) boosted its development lending activities in the first quarter of 2018, releasing a total of P223.24-billion in loans to borrowers, up by 16.86% from the P191.03-billion disbursed during the same period last year, a top official said.

DBP president and chief executive officer Cecilia C. Borromeo said the bulk of the loan releases went to infrastructure and logistics at P85.93-billion, followed by loans to government-owned-and-controlled corporations and local government units (P63.8-billion), agriculture (P40-billion), social services (P31.7-billion) and the environment (P16-billion). The bank also released P16.4-billion to micro, small, and medium enterprises.

“DBP remained true to its mandate as a development catalyst by increasing its loans to strategic sectors of the economy,” Borromeo said. “We continue to enhance access to credit nationwide to finance the much-needed infrastructure of the country,” she said.

DBP is the eighth largest bank in the country in terms of assets and has been designated as the country’s infrastructure bank by the national government. It provides loans to strategic sectors such as infrastructure and logistics, small and medium enterprises, social services and community development, and the environment.

Borromeo attributed the hefty increase in the bank’s loan portfolio to the establishment of lending groups and centers in critical areas of the country as it streamlined client servicing and loan processing.

Earlier this year, DBP created seven lending groups and 22 lending centers nationwide to fast-track the credit application process with its network of 125 branches focused on deposit-generation activities.

“Our newly created provincial lending groups are proving to be effective channels for funding development projects in the countryside,” Borromeo said.

Borromeo said total deposits increased by 32.5% in the first quarter to P428.5-billion from P232.3-billion in the same period last year, attributed mainly to the opening of new branches in various parts of the country.

She said DBP would broaden its branch network this year by opening ten new branches while expanding its ATM network which has increased by 81 machines, bringing the bank’s total number of ATMs to 710 nationwide as of May this year.

“We ended the first quarter with 81 more ATMs, which is 40.5% of our target of 200 new ATMs this year,” Borromeo said. “Out of the number, 69 ATMs were installed in provincial sites, in line with our commitment to bring banking services to the underserved areas,” she said.

Borromeo said DBP would aggressively target one million depositors in the next five years, focusing mainly on small depositors residing in underserved areas of the country as part of its advocacy of financial inclusion.

“We want as many Filipinos to have their own deposit accounts, and we would want them to go to DBP, and to trust us as their bank,” she said.

Borromeo said that DBP’s gross income grew by 9% from January to March this year to P5.77-billion from P5.29-billion recorded in the first quarter of 2017, while net worth rose to P47.8-billion, registering a 3.49% increase from the P46.19-billion for the same period in 2017.

She added that the bank’s net income reached P1.09-billion, down by 15.5% from the P1.29-billion registered during the same period last year, owing largely to higher provisioning for credit losses consistent with the bank’s objective of maintaining portfolio quality and in compliance with new regulations.

Borromeo said that DBP remains on track to achieve its financial targets this year and that overall average cost of funds has been on a steady decline while operating expenses have been kept to a minimum.

Previous articleDuterte seals P28B agri deal with EMartNext articleBPI tells OFWs: Sell dollars during peak Daily Tribune