BSP, IFC back amendments to Warehouse Receipts law

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the International Finance Corp. (IFC) have declared their support for the immediate passage of amendments to the Warehouse Receipts (WR) law.

The BSP and the IFC said that in early October they consulted representatives from banks, government agencies and the private sector on Senate Bill No. 2173, or “An Act Providing for the Revised Warehouse Receipts Law of the Philippines.”

“The bill aims to strengthen and modernize the Warehouse Receipts Law of 1912 by establishing a central electronic registry where goods and products can be deposited in exchange for a warehouse receipt that can easily be traded, bartered or sold in order to obtain credit,” the BSP said in a statement on Monday.

Senate Bill No. 2173 was transmitted to the Senate on May 30.

The amendments will allow banks and other financial institutions to have greater confidence in using warehouse receipts as collateral, the central bank noted.

An improved WR system will also unlock financing for farmers by assigning a verifiable value to their inventory, stabilize market prices, and improve food security, the BSP said.

WR financing has been singled out as a priority initiative for micro, small and medium enterprises in the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion 2022-2028, it added.

The participants in the consultation discussed WR finance practices in developed markets, as well as the need to digitalize agriculture. — Aaron Michael C. Sy