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THE Philippines is seeking multibillion-dollar loans from two
multilateral funding institutions this year and next to fund
big-ticket infrastructure projects and social services, the National
Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.
Documents from NEDA showed the government wants
to borrow $1.37 billion this year and $441.80 million next year from
the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
For this year, the government wants ADB to fund
the $40-million Metro Manila Urban Services of the Poor Investment
Program, the $50-million Health Care Investment Facility, and the
$85-million Agrarian Reform Communities Project II.
For governance and other sectors, the government
is seeking ADB support for the $300-million Local Government
Financing and Budget Reform Program, the $300-million Philippine
Justice Reform Program, and the $250-million Philippine Basic Urban
Services Sector Project.
The ADB will also finance the $250-million
Standby Facility to Support the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo)
Privatization, the $60-million Rural Electric Cooperation
Development Project, the $30-million Building Virtual Power Station
through Energy Efficiency in the Philippines, and the $50-million
Water District Development Project.
For non-loan projects, the Manila-based lender
will extend about $9.41 million.
From the World Bank, the government is seeking
support for $294.94 million worth of projects this year. Of the
total, $12.54 million will go to the Bicol Restoration Project, $232
million to the National Roads Improvement and Management Program
Phase 2, $40 million to the Rural Power Project, and $10 million to
the Second Agrarian Reform Communities Development Project.
For next year, World Bank support is sought for
$831.44 million worth of power, water, and social services projects.
These include the $250-million Development Policy Loan II, the
$260-million Private Sector Development Support, the $260-million
Light Rail Transit Line 1 South Extension Project, the $63-million
World Bank Support for TransCo Concessionaire, the $50- million
Support for Regional and Local Water Supply, the $58.32-million
Participatory Irrigation Development Project, among others.
For 2010, the World Bank may fund $819.79
million worth of infrastructure projects and social services.
As of last year, the country’s cumulative
official development assistance (ODA) financed 125 ongoing projects
for a total $9.28 billion, of which $8.17 billion were project loans
and $1.31-million program loans.
By lender, the Japan Bank for International
Cooperation continued to be the largest source of ODA, accounting
for $2.5 billion of the total, followed by ADB with $2 billion,
other foreign donors at $1.9 billion, and the World Bank at $1.8
billion.
The government’s total donor aid disbursement
last year fell 17.9 percent to $1.62 billion from $1.97 billion in
2006.
-- Darwin G. Amojelar
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