Philippine rural banks get P525-M assistance

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. has approved P524.9 million of financial for rural banks.

The amount is released under its Strengthening Program for Rural Banks (SPRB Plus) to 23 rural banks.

The SPRB Plus launched fully late last year, has total funds of P5 billion and is split 50-50 by PDIC and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

As of November, 59 banks are now involved under the SPRB program in various stages and levels of participation. Of this number, eight are in SPRB Plus (developed in 2011), 32 in the original SPRB, and 19 under the Strengthening Program for Cooperative Banks with Land Bank of the Philippines.

SPRB Plus offers a variety of financial and regulatory relief and incentives for M&A and consolidations however financial assistance will only be granted to rural banks, not commercial banks.

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