THE US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE has provided an initial $500 million in credit export guarantees to eight Southeast Asian countries - including the Philippines - under the GSM 102 program.
In a statement, the USDA said the credit guarantee for 2009 would be made available to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Thailand, Vanuatu and Vietnam.
No amount for each country has been specified yet.
The GSM 102 program helps ensure that developing countries have the capacity to buy major US agricultural export products, including wheat and rice.
Under this program, the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corp. guarantees payments due from approved foreign banks to exporters or financial institutions in the United States.
These guarantees encourage exports to countries such as the Philippines where credit is necessary to maintain or increase US sales.
The Philippine government obtained in March this year a $75-million credit export guarantee, which it used to buy some 72,000 metric tons of rice from the United States.
In an interview with the Inquirer, Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap said the government remains open to taking up another round of loans under the GSM 102 program even if the country has completed its rice imports for the year.
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