By Eileen A. Mencias

The Bangko Sentral will come up with new guidelines on rediscounting to give banks in need of liquidity an alternative to emergency loans, sources from the central bank said.

The move came after four rural banks sought emergency loans from the central bank in the wake of the closure of the Legacy group of banks in December.

The central bank is giving banks the option to tap the rediscounting facility, instead of granting them an emergency loan.

The central bank has closed 18 rural banks since December, including 13 linked with the Legacy group of former National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. chief Celso de los Angeles.

Banks needing liquidity can tap the rediscounting facility by pledging their loan papers, complete with the collateral cover, to the central bank for a specified period.

The peso rediscounting rate on loans with maturities of 90 days or less stands at 6.122 percent per annum. For loans with maturities of 91 to 180 days, the rediscounting rate was at 6.7 percent.

For loan maturities of 181 to 360 days, the rate stands at 6.414 percent.

Loans with maturities of over 360 days can be rediscounted at a rate of 6.414 percent subject to annual re-pricing. Emergency loans, meanwhile, are slapped an interest rate of 1 percent over the 91-day treasury bill rate.

As of the end of 2008, total availment of commercial, thrift and rural banks under the peso rediscounting facility amounted to P57.754 billion.

At the end of 2008, the central bank had P31.3 billion under its peso rediscounting facility, about P1.4 billion higher than it had the week before.