BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. urged the Credit Management Association of the Philippines to expand its coverage to the medium and small enterprises in the country to make the sector further contribute significantly to economic growth.
In a speech during the general membership meeting and induction of officers of CMAP in Makati City on Friday, Espenilla said the MSME sector accounted for 99.5 percent of total business establishments in the country and employed around 61.6 percent of the total workforce. About 60 percent of exporters come from the MSME sector.
“MSME borrowers either face higher borrowing costs or are forced to turn to informal lenders for their financing requirements. I urged you, industry leaders, to be mindful of this and to help prevent further proliferation of this practice. Technology and innovative thinking are essential. Embrace and leverage on fintech [financial technology] to better serve the unserved…,” Espenilla said.
He said creditors most of the time did not know what was the capacity of the borrowers and borrowers usually did not communicate this to creditors. He said others opted not to give credit and others who gave credit made sure that there were collaterals to compensate for their lack of knowledge.
CMAP president Luis Arriola said he would work on the enhancement of the association’s data bank, especially on court cases, establishment of regional chapters in the key cities of the country for greater and more extensive coverage and initiate measures towards the organization or formation of the Asean Credit Management Association.
Arriola said he would also push for the CMAP membership base to cover practically all industries involved, either as provider or taker of credit.
