MICRO, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) hit by the slowdown of economic activities due to the coronavirus pandemic are expected to get at least P2.2 billion funding from the annual budget for 2021.
The allocation comprises almost half of the P5.35 billion proposed budget for the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), according to the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2021.
âEvery peso of the P4.506-trillion FY 2021 NEP went through numerous budget hearings and consultations with the agencies,â the Department of Budget and Management said in a statement.
Broken down, the amount for MSME development program includes P1.302 billion in maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE); P569.720 million in capital outlays; and P362.804 million for procurement services.
The MSME Development Program is in line with the Medium Enterprise Development Plan 2017-2022, which aims to provide greater opportunities to help entrepreneurs start up, sustain, expand, and internationalize their businesses.
Aside from this, there are also special provisions for the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Council Fund equivalent to P21.321 million. The council is tasked, among others, to review existing policies of government agencies that affect the growth and development of MSMEs.
The NEP also indicates the appropriation of P587.132 million for the implementation of the Shared Service Facilities, which will be used for projects that aim to improve the quality and productivity of MSMEs. Its implementation shall be primarily based on priority industry clusters identified by the DTI in consultation with key stakeholders.
This will be used for the development of the MSME sector, sourced from the 90 percent of the total penalties collected by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas from lending institutions.
Latest data from the DTI show that MSMEs accounted for 99.52 percent of the total 1.003 million business establishments in the country in 2018.(with reports from GMA News/PN)
