ADB approves $300m loan to boost Filipinos’ access to financial services

September 19, 2018

The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) board of directors Wednesday  approved a $300 million loan to support the Philippine government’s effort to expand financial services across the country, especially among entrepreneurs, small businesses, farmers, workers, and individuals, including women and vulnerable households.

The policy-based Inclusive Finance Development Program aims to help the Philippines develop a resilient and inclusive financial sector.

The project will help the government strengthen the country’s institutional and policy environment for expanding financial services, invest in support networks and infrastructure such as the national retail payment system and the new national identification system, and improve the abilities of financial institutions, including rural banks, to offer financial products, particularly through the application of new technologies.

As a result, more people are expected to open bank accounts, save more at financial institutions, and have access to a wider range of other financial products and services.

“The program reflects the strong commitment of the government and ADB to expand financial inclusion in the Philippines and address the challenge of high inequality, which has persisted despite rising and sustained economic growth,” said ADB Senior Financial Sector Specialist Kelly Hattel.

“The program builds on important actions taken by the government to strengthen the policy framework for financial inclusion and the infrastructure that supports the delivery of these services. We believe this program has all the right ingredients to achieve positive gains in financial inclusion and to improve the lives of Filipinos from Tawi-Tawi to Batanes,” she said. DMS