The government has extended to two years the grace period for the repayment of loans to distressed tourism businesses as it further eased the terms for interest-free soft loans under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2), the Department of Tourism (DOT) announced Thursday.

The move was made to encourage more micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the tourism industry to avail of the loan facility managed by the Small Business Corp. (SB Corp) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

According to DOT, the relaxed terms allow businesses to apply for the second round of loans for employee retention and a maximum loanable amount of PHP5 million.

“We thank DTI Sec Ramon Lopez and the SB Corp for making these necessary adjustments to help tourism businesses thrive amid this global health crisis,” Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said.

“While we see the vaccination of tourism workers as the light at the end of the tunnel for the industry, we also know that tourism businesses still badly need the government’s support to get by in the coming months as we wait for vaccine doses to arrive,” she added, urging tourism enterprises to take advantage of the loan.

MSMEs accredited by the DOT or registered by the Barangay Micro Business Enterprises may apply for the loan, with the amount not exceeding 15 percent of their annual sales or 20 percent of asset size.

The figures will be based on the businesses’ financial statements for 2018 or 2019 filed with the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

The DOT noted that the maximum loanable amount for applicants with BIR-filed financial statements is PHP5 million for medium enterprises, PHP3 million for small enterprises, and PHP300,000 for micro-enterprises. (PNA)