Doha - A wide range of savings and investment options for Filipino expatriates in Qatar are now on offer by the Manila-based Land Bank of the Philippines- which is one of the two state-owned financial institutions of the republic. Applications for these products can be made through three local currency exchange houses who represent the bank in Doha.
Manny I Inserto, assistant vice-president and chief banking representative, Middle East at Landbank, said, his Filipino expatriates in Qatar can invest in the bank's Harvest-5 scheme, which offers a guaranteed return of eight per cent over a period of five years. The earnings, he said, were free from withholding stock and documentation stamp fees or taxes. The minimum investment in the Harvest-5 scheme is Philippine Pisos 100,000.
The second option offered by Landbank is the Philippine Treasury Bills issued by the Philippines government. For a minimum investment of Pisos 100,000, investors are offered a 5.67 per cent return over a period of 91 days, 6.817 per cent return over 182 days and, 7.94 per cent interest over 365 days.
For smaller investors, Landbank has Time Deposits available in denominations of Pisos 1,000 or $1,000 and multiples, offering a return of between two and three per cent per annum. He noted that Landbank was the third largest bank in terms of total assets held in the Philippines with a 100 per cent stake held by the republic. The bank, he said, had a network of some 300 branches all over the country.
For Overseas Filipino Workers, he said, Landbank had developed two attractive loan products. The first, termed Family Assistance Loan allows Filipinos to borrow up to Pisos 40,000 which can be utilized by the family of a person leaving abroad on employment or to pay their placement fees. The annual interest charged on this category of loan is fixed currently at 9 per cent and the amount has to be paid back over one year, with a maximum extension of another 12 months.
© The Peninsula 2005
