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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
PHLIPPINE use of official development assistance
(ODA) jumped by half in the first nine months of last year as the
government addressed project implementation bottlenecks, the
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.
Documents obtained from the agency’s Project
Monitoring Staff showed that total donor aid disbursed for public
projects jumped 51.62 percent to $1.3 billion at end-September from
$867.18 million in the same period in 2006.
Of the total, the biggest disbursement was noted
in World Bank-assisted projects at $346.12 million from $86.25
million previously. Disbursement of Asian Development Bank (ADB)-assisted
projects shot up to $326.72 million from $59.76 million the previous
year.
Disbursement of Japan Bank for International
Cooperation (JBIC) loans however was down to $471.96 million during
the period from $546.77 in 2006. Similarly, disbursement of other
sources—China, Germany, Belgium, South Korea, Austria, United
Kingdom, the Netherlands, Kuwait, among others—slipped to $170.10
million from $174.40 million previously.
In the third quarter alone, the
country’s total ODA disbursement was up by 42.96 percent to
$307.37 million. Of this, World Bank assistance accounted for $40.78
million; ADB, $27.28 million; JBIC, $143.62 million; and other
sources, $95.69 million.
The NEDA attributed the improved ODA performance
to actions geared toward addressing implementation bottlenecks
through improvement in the Investment Coordinating Committee (ICC)
business process and sustained project level facilitation and
effective coordination with funding institutions.
Projects funded by foreign donors or so-called
ODA, which generally deal with infrastructure upgrading or
improvement, require counterpart funds from beneficiary governments.
Reduction of these funds can lead to a delay in implementation or
outright cancellation.
At end-September, cancelled ODA amounted to
$4.27 million from the World Bank.
The country’s cumulative ODA loan commitments
numbered 124 and amounted to a combined $9 billion. Of this, the ADB
accounted for 23 on going loans amounting to $1.97 billion; JBIC, 44
loans at $3.3 billion; World Bank, 25 loans at $1.8 billion; and
others, 32 loans at $1.88 billion.
The OECD defines ODA as flows of official
financing administered with the promotion of the economic
development and welfare of developing countries as the main
objective, and are concessional in character with a grant element of
at least 25 percent.
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