Itinutulak ni House Ways and Means Chair at Albay 2nd District Representative Joey Salceda ang ilang panukala na nagbibigay proteksiyon sa banking system ng bansa mula sa “financial contagion” dulot ng kahirapan sa sektor ng pagbabangko sa abroad partikular ang startup lender Silicon Valley Bank at major European bank Credit Suisse.
“We can be proactive with protecting the banking sector by strengthening their balance sheets. I am confident our banks are strong, but just the same, we can act early,” pahayag ni Salceda.
Kabilang sa mga panukalang iminungkahi ni Salceda ay ang pagpapalawig ng Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) Act, na nag-lapse sa taong ito.
Paliwanag ng economist solon na pinahintulutan kasi ng FIST ang mga bangko na gumamit ng mga espesyal na sasakyan na tinatawag na “Mga Korporasyon ng FIST” upang i-offload ang mga hindi gumaganang asset.
“Although our banks are strong, they remain sensitive to shocks. NPL and NPA ratios have not recovered to pre-pandemic levels, and capital adequacy ratios are in continuous decline, partly due to the rollback of regulatory reliefs, especially the inclusion of MSME loans in the computation of the CAR,” dagdag pa ni Cong. Salceda.
Paliwanag pa ng House Tax chief, “ The effect of FIST on banks only became evident in 2022. NPLs have begun to decline in magnitude only that year. At this rate, it would take the banking sector three more years to reduce NPLs to pre-pandemic magnitudes.”
Inihayag ni Salceda na ang banking system non-performing assets ay umabot sa P 527.26 billion nuong 2022, bumaba ito mula sa P571.79 billion nuong 2021.
Batay sa pag-estima ni Salceda ang rate of asset disposition ay aabutin pa ng tatlong taon upang maibalik ang banking system’s asset quality sa pre-pandemic levels.
“I am working with [Banks and Financial Intermediaries Committee] Chair Irwin Tieng on legislation to extend the FIST Act by another three years. I think we will be able to pass this on 3rd reading in the House when we return on May,” wika ni Salceda.
Dagdag pa ni Salceda na kaniyang hiniling sa Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas na magbigay ng mga insentibo at tulong sa mga kooperatiba na bangko, para hikayatin silang magsama-sama.
Sa ngayon, mayruong 147 rural at cooperative banks sa Pilipinas na maaaring mag-consolidate sa mas malalaking bangko ng sa gayon mas mapahusay pa nilang paglingkuran ang kanilang mga nasasakupan at maging mas matatag.
Sinabi rin ni Salceda na dapat pag-aralan ng BSP ang pagpapalawig ng parehong mga insentibo sa sektor ng Thrift Banking, kung saan mayroong 36 na mga bangko.
Samantala, bukas naman ang mambabatas sa panukalang merger ng Land Bank of the Philippines at Development Bank of the Philippines, subalit ito ay kailangan ng legislation ng sa gayon maisakatuparan ito.
“In principle, it’s a good idea to combine these banks to make them more resilient to global shocks. We just need to work out how they can continue to fulfill their respective mandates,” sabi ni Salceda.
“I would ask the Executive to seriously study who will perform the original mandates of the respective banks once the merger takes place. The condonation of ARB loans allows the Landbank significant organizational flexibility, and having one bigger government depository is generally good for cash consolidation among the national government and LGUs, but there are also concerns that the mandate of the LBP to lend to farmers could get diluted by the merger. So, the economic managers need to present a strategy for performing those roles,” dagdag pa ni Salceda.
