MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has officially launched the Enterprise Rehabilitation Financing (ERF) Program, offering financial assistance to businesses impacted by Typhoon Kristine (Trami).

“This ‘ERF Kristine program’ is aimed at providing the affected businesses with the resources they need to rebuild, recover, and restore their operations,” DTI Secretary Christina Roque said during the program launch on Nov. 7.

The program, which has a P2 billion fund, is being implemented through the Small Business Corp., a government corporation under the policy program and administrative supervision of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development (SMED) Council of the DTI.

It aims to assist micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in areas placed under a state of calamity due to the storm.

Under the ERF program, these businesses can avail themselves of a loan from SBCorp with a ceiling of P300,000, payable monthly for up to three years with zero interest and zero principal payment for the first year.

In the second year, the interest rate will be 1 percent monthly, based on the diminishing balance for the following years.

The program also includes a three-month grace period for interest and principal.

“We really need this fund out there to help the people to be able to bounce back, especially, malapit na ang Pasko,” Sec. Roque said.

“They could also take advantage of the Christmas season to be able to sell a lot of their products and to be able to have a merry Christmas also,” the DTI chief added.

“This loan is really designed to really help those that were affected by typhoon Kristine. So, I encourage everyone from Luzon and all the affected areas to take advantage of this loan program,” she said.

The DTI stated that eligible MSMEs may avail themselves of the loan within three processing days. Applications can be submitted online via the SBCorp loan portal.

📷 DTI Philippines FB