MANILA is set to draw $47 million, or P2 billion, worth of loans from a number of overseas governments and has obtained regulatory approval to draw $10 million or P455 million from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).

The $10-million Opec component, earmarked for phase two of the Cordillera Highlands Agricultural Resource Management Project, has been approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). It aims to cut the incidence of poverty in the region.

The first phase ran from 1997 to 2004. It endeavored to increase the annual income of farm families in the Cordillera Autonomous Region, or CAR.

The second phase aims to continue poverty reduction in CAR by improving the livelihood of the indigenous communities and institutionalizing practices in resource management and land occupancy in the region.

CAR is made up of the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mountain Province.

According to Deputy BSP Governor Andres Suratos, the United Nation’s International Fund for Agricultural Development, or Ifad, has agreed to cofinance the program by providing a loan component of $27 million, or P1.2 billion.

The Ifad loan package, however, was approved in principle at this point by the Monetary Board, the policymaking body of the BSP, Suratos said.

An approval in principle signals regulatory support, but the timing and amount of the loan needs to be examined in relation to the country’s loan program and ability to amortize the IOU.

Another $10-million loan package for CAR, extended by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), has yet to receive BSP approval, according to Suratos.

He said Finance Secretary Margarito Teves has yet to submit to the Monetary Board the proposed loan agreement that will be implemented by the Department of Finance.

The ADB loan matures in 20 years, inclusive of a five-year grace, and carries a 3-percent interest per year.

These loans form part of the larger $1.5 billion of loans Manila plans to source from various foreign governments and representative agencies this year.

The $1.5-billion overseas development assistance component is on top of commercial borrowings—capped at $500 million—this year, the finance department said.

MANILA is set to draw $47 million, or P2 billion, worth of loans from a number of overseas governments and has obtained regulatory approval to draw $10 million or P455 million from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).

BSP wants awareness on mobile banking raised

THE country’s two telecommunications service providers have done much to improve the awareness of mobile banking among Filipinos, but more needs to be done, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

LandBank to buy P50M of notes from Isabela bank

LAND BANK of the Philippines has signed an agreement with First Isabela Cooperative Bank (Fico Bank) to buy P50 million worth of unsecured subordinated notes to beef up the rural lender’s capital base under the Basel 2 standards, the bank said yesterday.

JUSTICE Secretary Raul Gonzalez yesterday ordered a panel of prosecutors to waive the payment of docket fees and pave the way for the early resolution of the syndicated estafa cases filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and other individuals against the officers and agents of Performance Investment Products Corp. (PIPC).

THE peso yesterday shed four centavos to close at P44.59 per dollar from Tuesday’s close of P44.55.

The range-bound trading reflected how investors were cautious ahead of the policy decision by the US Federal Reserve on interest rates, currency traders said.