PCFC to launch loan program for house repairs

CATERING to poor households who are in need of decent houses, a government firm involved in micro-financing plans to launch a micro-housing program next year to potential beneficiaries in Cebu.

“This program will help poor families improve their way of living through renovating or repairing their houses,” said People’s Credit and Finance Corp. (PCFC) account management group for Visayas assistant vice president Jose Rico Co-ligado.

Clients

While the program is targeted for “mature clients” who are active borrowers of micro-finance institutions (MFIs), the loan is limited for renovation or repair purposes only and not for the construction of another house, Coligado explained.

In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu last Saturday, Coligado said PCFC, in partnership with the Development Bank of the Philippines, will provide loans of up to P50,000 to each beneficiary, provided they have met certain lending guidelines.

He said the loan provides an interest rate of two percent per month and is payable within the next five years.
Coligado said the interest rate already includes both savings and service charge.

Business

“People might wonder why do we have a high interest rate when we cater to the poor? It’s because this is first and foremost a business. If we decrease the interest rate, they will not perceive it as a business but a doleout system,” he said during the Microfinance Academy seminar held at the Crown Regency Hotel in Lapu-Lapu City.

Opportunity

The four-day gathering of different MFI credit and loans officers in the Visayas last November 9 to 12 was aimed at fostering camaraderie among its field staff.

Meanwhile, Coligado said PCFC has extended a total of P400 million in loans to its different MFI partners in Cebu. It has 80,000 beneficiaries in the province.

“We are exerting more effort to really reach out to the poor by helping them use their money wisely. The money they receive through our MFI partners is not a guarantee that they will be rich, but it’s an opportunity for them to improve,” Coligado said.

Source: Sunstar - Cebu. 11/14/2006.

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