THE World Bank will be extending over $4 billion worth of loans and grants to the Philippines under its new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for 2019-2023.
Based on the CPF, loans to be extended, at least between 2020 and 2022, will be around $4.22 billion to $4.42 billon, while the amount of grants closing 2020 onward amount to $14.2 million.
The Washington-based lender said in a statement the CPF will prioritize investments in human capital (health, education, nutrition), competitiveness and job creation, peace-building, climate and disaster resilience, governance, and digital transformation.
“The Philippines can deepen inclusive growth and broaden shared prosperity by tackling child malnutrition and learning gaps in education; promoting policies that create more and better jobs for Filipino workers; and focusing on the dual risk of conflict and natural disasters that hurt poor communities,” said Mara Warwick, World Bank country director for Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.
“The new Country Partnership Framework aims to help overcome the core constraints that continue to hamper the country’s efforts to address the remaining vulnerability of many Filipino families,” she added.
Under the loans, the World Bank will finance four DPLs worth $1.7 billion. The DPLs are the Promoting Competitiveness and Improving Resilience to Natural Disasters I, worth $400 million, and Third Disaster Risk Management Development Policy Loan with Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (CAT-DDO), worth $500 million, to be financed in 2020.
The other two, worth $400 million each, will be financed between FY 2021 and 2022. These are the Promoting Competitiveness and Improving Resilience to Natural Disasters II, and Promoting Competitiveness and Improving Resilience to Natural Disasters III.
The list also includes 12 Investment Project Financing (IPF) loans worth $440 million in 2020 and a maximum of $2.28 billion in 2021-2022.
IPFs to be financed in 2020 are the $80- million Philippine Customs Modernization Project and two standby IPFs, the $100 million Teacher Effectiveness and Competencies Enhancement Project and $260-million Support to Parcelization of Land for Individual Titling Project (SPLIT).
For 2021 and 2022, the IPFs include the $300-million Seismic Resilience and Emergency Management Project, Sustainable Tourism Project and National Community Driven Development Project Additional Financing.
Other IPFs include the $280-million Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) Additional Financing and the $100-million Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project, Civil Service Modernization and Human Resources Management Project, and Marawi Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Project.
Two project—the Marikina Dam project, estimated to cost between $400 million and $500 million, and the Agus-Pulangi Hydro Rehabilitation Project, from $200 million to $300 million—are also included in the pipeline.
The grants that will close in 2020 onward include the $2.73-million PHRD Pillar IV- Preparation of a Program Towards Sustainable Flood Management in the Greater Metro Manila Area, and the $410,000 CADF Support to the LBP Carbon Finance Support Facility.
The list includes the $5.07-million Philippines Cebu Bus Rapid Transit Project-CTF Loan TF; $5-million PH-Rural Development Project (PRDP); $80,000 Philippines Methane Recovery and Combustion with Renewable Energy Generation from Anaerobic Animal Manure Management System; and the $910,000 Quezon City Controlled Disposal Facility Biogas Emission Reduction Project.
“With the new Country Partnership Framework, the World Bank Group renews its commitment to support the Philippines by mobilizing financing, global knowledge and technical expertise, to support reforms and programs that help speed up poverty reduction, and promote greater inclusion,” said Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank vice president for East Asia and the Pacific.
The World Bank, Warwick added, will support a cohesive approach to Mindanao’s development and intensify efforts to engage the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), including reconstruction support for Marawi.