THE Philippines has been able to secure nearly $2 billion in loans from multilateral development banks as of June 2021.
Based on data from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Philippines secured $1.78 billion-worth of loans to finance various programs to date.
The largest source of loans for the Philippines was the World Bank, which has extended $1.08 billion in loans to finance four projects on agriculture, disaster reduction and mitigation, hydropower and the Covid-19 response.
The World Bank loans will be financing the $500-million Philippines Covid-19 Emergency Response (PCER) project (additional financing); the $300-million Philippines Seismic Risk Reduction and Resilience (PSRRR) project; the $280-million second additional financing for the Philippine Rural Development (PRD) project; and, the $0.70-million Preparation Project for Agus Pulangi Hydropower Complex for Rehabilitation.
The PCER project will finance the purchase and deployment of vaccines. The World Bank Board said the vaccines to be purchased and administered should have been granted emergency use authorization or has received World Health Organization “Emergency Use Listing.”
The World Bank said the PSRRR project aims to finance seismic retrofitting and relevant strengthening and/or upgrades of public buildings to reduce damage from natural hazards.
The second additional financing for the PRD project will support 267 climate-resilient rural infrastructure and 287 enterprise development subprojects to boost rural incomes and strengthen planning and implementation capacities among local government units and producer organizations.
The preparation project for the Agus Pulangi Hydropower Complex for Rehabilitation aims to support the National Power Corp. through the preparation of feasibility study and tender documents.
Meanwhile, the ADB and the AIIB approved $400-million and $300-million worth of loans, respectively. The loans are for the second “Health System Enhancement to Address and Limit Covid-19 (Heal 2) under the Asia-Pacific vaccine access facility, which the two banks are co-financing.
The Heal 2 project will provide the Government of the Philippines with timely financing for safe and effective vaccine procurement and logistics, based on an agreed list of eligible expenditures.
It will supplement the initial support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to the government’s Covid-19 response under the Heal project.
ADB said Heal 2 is aligned with its Strategy 2030 by addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities; accelerating progress in gender equality; and fostering regional cooperation and integration.