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The World Bank approved new $ 900 million project loans that the government sought to recover from the pandemic, improve competitiveness and build resilience in the face of crises and natural disasters.
The World Bank said in a statement that it approved a “Promoting Competitiveness and Improving Resilience to Natural Disaster Development” (Pcerndd) policy loan worth $ 600 million and a $ 300 million loan to finance additional financing. for development driven by the Kalahi-Cidss national community. Project (KC-NCDDP).
With these new loans, the Philippines has obtained a total of $ 3.062 billion in financing from the Washington-based lender this year. Prior to these two loans, the World Bank approved eight loans and grants for the Philippines.
“Reforms to improve digital infrastructure and accelerate the adoption of digital technologies will not only help the country’s efforts to recover from the impacts of the pandemic, but will also boost its export competitiveness, which is vital to create more and better jobs in the future, “he added. The statement quoted Ndiamé Diop, World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
According to the lender, Pcerndd’s policy loan aims to support efforts to adopt digital technologies, promote greater competition and reduce the costs of doing business to reactivate more economic activities and jobs in the country.
The World Bank said they will help small and medium-sized businesses recover from the pandemic, as well as citizens to cope with social distancing measures and other health protocols. These efforts will also improve the delivery of social assistance to the most disadvantaged groups in society.
These efforts include promoting competition and expanding digital infrastructure in the telecommunications sector, switching to digital transactions for customs procedures to reduce trade costs, indemnity insurance to protect public assets (e.g. , schools, hospitals) of natural disasters and the implementation of the national identification program for the execution of the financial inclusion and social transfer program.
“The implementation of the national identification system is a fundamental reform that will allow a better targeting of social programs, reduce transaction costs and guarantee the protection of vulnerable groups, especially in times of crisis, including pandemics and natural disasters,” he said. Diop.
Meanwhile, additional funding for Kalahi-Cidss (Weapons against poverty-Complete and integrated provision of social services) The NCDD project will provide grants to fund identified and community-managed responses that restore or improve basic social services.
This includes services to address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and other disasters that affected the poorest and most vulnerable municipalities.
These community projects include basic local facilities, such as access roads / bridges, water systems, school buildings, and nurseries, in the poorer barangays / municipalities that have a limited internal income allocation (IRA) from the national government and that otherwise On the contrary, they are not reached by other programs due to their geographic isolation and difficult circumstances.
The KC-NCDDP is implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development in partnership with the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
“Community-driven development approaches have proven effective in accelerating community rebuilding after disasters and efficiently targeting the priority needs of communities around the world,” Diop said. “I have no doubt that the same approach, communities working together to address common challenges, will help them recover from this pandemic, while at the same time building resilience to future shocks.”
According to World Bank data, the most important loans approved this year, in addition to these two new loans, are: the 600 million dollar project “Social Protection of Beneficiary First” and the financing for development policy “Emergency Response to the Covid-19 of the Philippines “. and the “Third Disaster Risk Management” development policy loan. Both amounted to $ 500 million each.
The smallest funding received by the country this year is an $ 850,000 grant for “Conflict Monitoring and Participatory Processes” for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Mindanao Muslim (BARMM).
The World Bank Group will make available up to $ 160 billion over a 15-month period ending in June 2021 to help more than 100 countries protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses and strengthen economic recovery.
The amount includes $ 50 billion of new resources from the International Development Association through grants and concessional loans and $ 12 billion for developing countries to finance the purchase and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.
