The chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB) has appealed to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to make its rediscounting facility more affordable to small- and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) by scrapping a plan to shift to market-based interest rates.
Last week, CTB president Tomas Clemente reported that they had submitted a proposal seeking to maintain the interest rate on the BSP rediscount facility at the original pricing formula of 91-day Treasury bill rate less one per cent.
An earlier circular requires the BSP to shift to a market-based interest rate formula on 4 October. The BSP deferred the implementation of this formula for the last two years in response to the appeal of the banking sector, particularly the CTB.
Now that the two-year deferment is expiring, the CTB is asking the BSP to consider the complete abolition of the market-based interest rate provision contained in Circular 354 of 2002.
