GSIS loans hit P208-B, including P108-B for financial assistance

THE Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) said its loan disbursements have amounted to P208 billion since 2019, including P108 billion for loans to assist members who have run into difficulty during the public health crisis.

In a statement Friday, the GSIS, the pension fund for current and retired civil servants, said the P108 billion was disbursed via the GSIS Financial Assistance Loan (GFAL) program to 292,000 members.

It handed out P17 billion in emergency loans to 902,696 members and P16 billion worth of Multipurpose Loans (MPL) to 256,537 members.

Loans to GSIS pensioners availing of the Enhanced Pension Loan and Pensioners’ Emergency Loan amounted to P3.21 billion and P980.22 million, respectively.

The pension fund removed age caps for pensioners in February and increased the maximum loanable amount to six times the monthly pension, up to P500,000.

“(The) multiplier effect of the loans in the communities has effectively pump-primed the economy in far-flung areas as banks and other financial institutions have tightened (their credit policy) and were hesitant to grant credit,” GSIS President and General Manager Rolando L. Macasaet was quoted as saying. — Isabel B. Celis