BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno
MANILA – The national government has requested the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for a budget support amounting to PHP540 billion.
In a Viber message to journalists Wednesday, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said the financing will be “settled on or before 29 December 2020, at zero interest.”
Proceeds of the provisional advance will be used for “deficit financing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.
Diokno said the request will be submitted to the central bank’s policy-making Monetary Board (MB) “soon.”
Asked if the request will be presented to the Board during its meeting Thursday, Diokno said he “can’t confirm.”
“Will fill you in on the terms when finally approved by the MB,” he added.
The BSP Charter authorizes the central bank to lend to the national government an amount that is equivalent to 20 percent of the latter’s average revenues in the past three years, which to date is about PHP540 billion.
Last March, the BSP extended PHP300-billion financing to the national government through a repurchase agreement.
The fund was used to purchase government securities from the Bureau of the Treasury and proceeds were used to boost the government’s budget for programs aimed to address the impact of the pandemic. (PNA)
