The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is prepared to lend more to the government, helping to boost state funding to counter the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Governor Benjamin Diokno said Monday.
The comments come days after President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday signed into law a measure providing 165.5 billion pesos ($3.4 billion) for pandemic relief.
The law allows BSP -- which already lends some money to the government -- to extend additional credit worth as much as 10% of the government’s average revenue in the last three years. That’s equivalent to about 282 billion pesos, Diokno said.
Asked if the central bank is prepared to lend more to the government, Diokno said, “Yes of course.”
The government proposed a higher cap to enable it to avail the central bank facility “to fund requirements against COVID-19 and pursue a quick recovery,” Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said Monday in a chat message to reporters. The funds are “adequately covered by debt service savings and additional income,” she said.