New DBP president to broaden role in infrastructure financing
A PROMINENT and seasoned banker has formally assumed the position as head of one of the largest government financial institutions in the country, vowing to strengthen and expand the bank’s role in infrastructure financing to sustain the country’s growth momentum.
Michael de Jesus, the new president and chief executive officer (CEO) of state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), said the bank would work closely with the national government in expanding the country’s infrastructure development program to raise the competitiveness of the local economy.
“As I take the helm of DBP, it is with high hope and confidence that this bank will continue to boost and sustain our infrastructure push,” de Jesus said. “Together with our stakeholders, we will ensure that DBP fulfills its mandate of developmental financing especially infrastructure development, as this is a top priority of President [Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’] Marcos Jr.”
De Jesus was a US-educated and trained banker that had extensive experience in corporate banking and finance. Prior to his appointment as the ninth DBP president and CEO, he was a senior executive of several top-tier universal banks in the country.
DBP continued to be the eighth largest bank in the country in terms of assets that provided credit support to four strategic sectors of the economy: infrastructure and logistics; micro, small and medium enterprises; the environment; and social services and community development. It had a network of 146 branches and branch-lite units, many of which were located in far-flung and underserved communities.