Together with the Industrial Guarantee & Loan Fund, the Credit Surety Fund (CSF) is the long-awaited financial solution to the perennial creditworthiness problem of most micro Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the backbone of the country’s economy.

This was the pronouncement made by Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) Chairman Patricia A. Sto. Tomas during Monday’s launch of Metro Cebu Coopreneurs Surety Fund at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel, Cebu City.

DBP has been a staunch supporter of the CSF, an “out-of the box initiative”, since its launch last year. “With the CSF, micro SMEs in Cebu will have better access to credit from banks even if they do not have the traditional hard collateral,” she stressed.

So far, the state-owned bank has approved R27 million for 14 CSF programs from Cavite , Aurora , Bohol, Negros Oriental, Compostela Valley , Davao del Norte, Iloilo , Negros Occidental, Digos City , North Cotabato to Cebu, General Santos City, Davao Oriental and Davao City.

“Our participation in the Surety Fund for Cebu City underlines our continued commitment to support this new approach to SME financing,” the DBP Chairman pointed out.

“We believe that the CSF will have a direct effect on job generation in the countryside,” she explained. More micro-entrepreneurs can expand their businesses and generate more employment opportunities.

However, DBP’s support to the CSF goes beyond the contributions it has given. The bank is also taking a more proactive stance in assisting small borrowers in areas where the CSF has been established.

“Here in Cebu City , micro SMEs and cooperatives belonging to this CSF can expect immediate and substantial support from our branches in Cebu , Mandaue and Bogo,” Sto. Tomas elaborated.

“We have also designed the DBP - Sustainable Entrepreneurship Enhancement and Development Program or DBP-SEED. It is now the bank’s umbrella program for micro SME Development.”

Through this program, member-cooperatives, as well as the individual MSME cooperative members, can avail of loan support from DBP at reasonable terms and with a shorter turnaround time.

The ultimate goal is to serve the SME sectors better and faster to expand their growth and development. “We are accelerating the process for approving SME loans.”