The collateral-free loans, ranging from P5,000 to P150,000 have been effective in providing our entrepreneurial poor, or what we call the e-poor, with much needed capital to start a microenterprise. So far, banks have provided microfinance to more than 750,000 borrowers. Some of you may be surprised to know that the average repayment rate of our e-poor on their microfinance loans is 98%!
This is so much better than the repayment record of banks from their major borrowers. In fact, microfinance is now a source of profits for many banks. I hope your organization can also provide support for our microfinance program.