State-owned Philippine Guarantee Corporation (PhilGuarantee) extended loan guarantees totaling P236.98 billion to support small businesses last year, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

In a statement, Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto, who also serves as the chairperson of PhilGuarantee, said that this marked a 28 percent increase in support compared to the previous year.

Recto added that about 426,378 beneficiaries were able to benefit from the program, particularly socialized or low-cost housing; micro, small, and medium enterprises; and small farmers and fisherfolk.

“This robust performance is a testament to our country’s strong credit guarantee system. I congratulate the hard-working men and women of PhilGuarantee for ensuring that our small- and medium enterprises and marginalized sectors are given wider access to financing support, giving them the opportunity to grow alongside our economy,” Recto said.

The corporation’s partner lending institutions also rose to 152 in 2023 from 131 in 2022, emphasizing a stronger capital mobilization through the efficient use of guarantee facilities.

Meanwhile, PhilGuarantee's financial performance continued to be robust, recording a historic high total revenue of P5.32 billion in 2023, a 103 percent increase from the previous year.

These revenues were collected from guarantee fees and premiums, commitment fees, and the sales and/or rental of real estate assets.

On the other hand, PhilGuarantee's dividend remittances to the national government in 2023 soared to a record-high of P2.42 billion from P746 million in 2022.

To date, total dividend remittances have reached P4.03 billion since the merger in 2019.

The PhilGuarantee is a government-owned and controlled corporation that resulted from the merger and consolidation of five Philippine Guarantee Programs and Agencies (PGPAs) under Executive Order No. 58, Series of 2018.

In 2019, the Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency merged with the Home Guaranty Corp.; while the guarantee functions, programs, and funds of the Small Business Corp. and the administration of the Agricultural Guarantee Fund Pool and the Industrial Guarantee and Loan Fund were also transferred to PhilEXIM.

To strengthen this mandate, PhilGuarantee is finalizing its proposed changes to its charter to harmonize the laws, rules, decrees, and administrative orders covering the five PGPAs.

The changes will enable the PhilGuarantee to provide more credit supplementation and development financing objectives where jobs and livelihood creation will be impacted.

The state firm is also implementing its Strategic Pillars and Sustainable Institutional Goals for 2023- 2025, which cover enhanced portfolio management, improvements in its process with a focus on digitalization, and building a stronger organization through personnel development.

It also targets sustaining a P1.0 billion net income to ensure positive returns.

The PhilGuarantee's core mandate is to provide credit guarantees, enabling easier loan access to support trade and investments, exports, infrastructure, energy, tourism, agricultural business/modernization, housing, MSMEs, and other priority sectors of the economy.