State-run Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund said Thursday it will defer the monthly contribution increase which was supposed to start this year.
The hike was originally planned for last year but was moved to 2022 because of the pandemic. But as the pandemic persists and because of the good fiscal standing of the mutual fund, Pag-IBIG Chairman Sec. Eduardo del Rosario said they will again postpone the hike.
“We will continue to defer the increase of the monthly contribution of our members. hence this is the 36th year that Pag-IBIG monthly contribution will be the same,” said Del Rosario.
Del Rosario, who also is the Secretary of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, said Pag-IBIG has achieved many “highest-ever” records for 2021 despite the pandemic. This is a good indication of a recovering economy, he added.
“I am happy to report that your Pag-IBIG Fund achieved another milestone. Our strong performance last year led us to reach a net income of P34.73 billion! This is our highest net income ever, surpassing by 9.5 percent our P31.71 billion net income in 2020 and topping the previous record of P34.37 billion netted in 2019. I’d also like to note that this is the fifth time that our net income breached the P30-billion mark,” said Del Rosario.
Housing loan takeouts for 2021 reached P97.28 billion–the highest in the agency’s history, del Rosario said. If they add the loans on the reconstruction of houses and others, total housing loan takeout would breach the P100 billion mark for the first time. This means over 94,000 Pag-IBIG members have a new home in 2021, he said.
Del Rosario added, short term loans also rose in 2021 to P44.3 billion or over 2 million members benefitting from the loan. The number includes P43 billion for multi-purpose loans and over P1B for calamity loans last year.
Because of the fund’s performance, Del Rosario announced that recommended dividend rate of Pag-IBIG Regular Savings for 2021 is 5.16 percent per year, while for MP2 Savings is 5.66 percent, subject to board approval.
Del Rosario said in contrast, the dividend yield for publicly listed companies only averages 2.58 percent.
The dividend payout ratio has also been increased to 86.56 percent of annual net income, equivalent to P29.86 billion. Under Pag-IBIG’s charter, dividend would be at least 70 percent of net income.
