Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said that the national government will expand the authorized capital stock of the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) to P1 trillion.

Recto told reporters that the amendments to the charters of the two major state-run banks Landbank and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) have already been finalized and presented to the Senate.

It was in 2016 that the authorized capital stock of Landbank was increased from P25 billion to P200 billion.

The proposal also includes raising the capitalization for the DBP by over 700 percent to P300 billion from the mandated P35 billion, Recto said.

The DOF chief also reiterated the plan to allow possible public listing of the two government financial institutions, which the DBP also supports.

A bill was already filed and pending at the House of Representatives, wherein the lower chamber approved on final reading a bill that would revise the DBP charter. Back then, DBP was only seeking an increase in its authorized capital stock to P100 billion.

There were plans to merge the Landbank and DBP into a single government bank, which would be the largest bank in the Philippines, but was put off the table this year.

“Their mandates are totally different, so I think we’re better off with two of them,” Recto said.

Landbank, which is the official depository bank of the national government, is tasked to promote countryside development and spur credit activity and financial inclusivity for rural communities.

It posted asset growth of 4.2 percent to P3.3 trillion last year and is the second-largest Philippine bank behind BDO Unibank, Inc.

Meanwhile, the DBP performs all the other functions of a thrift bank beyond its primary development mission. It services the medium- and long-term needs of agricultural and industrial enterprises, with a focus on small- and medium-scale industries.