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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
PENALTIES that foreign donors
meted the Philippine government for failing to use available aid
jumped by double-digits, according to the National Economic and
Development Authority (NEDA).
Documents obtained from the
Project Monitory Staff of NEDA showed that commitment fees, which
represent penalties for delayed foreign-assisted programs and
projects, reached $56.57 million at end-2006. This was an 11.4
percent increase from $50.9 million in 2005.
For projects scheduled last year
alone, the government was penalized $5.68 million.
Among the agencies that had
pending donor-assisted projects, the Department of Public Works and
Highways was penalized the most at $10.18 million, followed by the
Department of Transportations and Communication, which was meted a
$5.63-million penalty.
Other agencies that were
penalized for delays include the Department of Finance, $4.27
million; Department of Agriculture, $4.16 million; National Power
Corp, $3.79 million; Department of Agrarian Reform, $3.65 million;
Department of Environment and Natural Resources, $$3.68 million;
Department of Education, $3.47 million; Department of Social Welfare
and Development, $2.85 million and Pasig River Environment and
Rehabilitation Sector and Development, $2.26 million.
Also included were the Department
of Budget and Management, $0.58 million; Development Bank of the
Philippines, $1.29 million; Department of Interior and Local
Government, $0.88million; Department of Energy, $0.17 million; and
Department of Health, $0.174 million.
The Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development defines commitment fees, or
commitment charges, as the penalty meted an aid beneficiary for
failure to disburse loan commitments. The penalty is a fixed-rate
charge calculated on the basis of the undisbursed balance. At
present, commitment fees on aid meant for the Philippines ranges
from 0.125 percent to 0.85 percent.
Broken down into donor
type, penalty meted by the Asian Development Bank amounted $31.3
million; World Bank, $17.28 million; and others, $7.99 million.
The World Bank charges the
highest fee at 0.85 percent per annum on the undisbursed amount from
the date such charges begin to accrue, but excluding the fourth
anniversary of such date; and 0.75 percent per annum thereafter.
The ADB charges 0.75
percent; the government of Australia, 0.125 percent; Canada, 0.375
percent; Germany and Denmark, 0.25 percent; France and the Nordic
Development Fund, 0.50 percent; and Spain, 0.15 percent per annum.
The Japan Bank for
International Cooperation charges no commitment fee for delays in
availment.
The Philippines’
cumulative foreign donor loan commitments as of end December
amounted to $9.506 billion from $10.194 billion in 2005.
The Philippines disbursed
$1.94 billion last year or 60.7 percent higher than the $1.2 billion
in 2005.
The NEDA attributed the
improved availment to the sustained focus and actions towards
addressing implementation bottlenecks through improvement in the
business process and sustained project level facilitation and
effective coordination with funding institutions.
The country’s disbursement rate
however improved from $1.195 billion in 2005 to $1.937 billion last
year.
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