Yet at the same time, in industries in which appropriate investment was not or is not made, the service level is low or is expected to be negatively impacted. It is important to emphasize that the return on public investment, or the harm from a lack of such investment, are not seen immediately.
But, the lack of access to credit remains a major barrier to the further development and sustainability of MSMEs. As of end-December 2019 or prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, MSME loans of the Philippine banking system only account for 8.8 percent of total business loans and 6.1 percent of total loans. This is mainly attributed to two factors.