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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) sovereign loan program to the Philippines is expected to reach about $ 9.4 billion over the next three years, not including the up to $ 500 million the country is ready to purchase to purchase vaccines for the disease. coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19).
In a virtual briefing on Wednesday, ADB’s country director for the Philippines, Kelly Bird, said that at least two-thirds of the indicative program will go towards infrastructure recovery, health care and employment to help revitalize the economy.
“Our business plan for operations in the country is adopting an integrated approach to business and employment recovery over the next three years through a combination of programs and projects that support structural reforms of the business sector, facilitate the employment of young people and improve skills development in the workplace, “he said. said.
“We have designed our new National Operations Business Plan to help the Philippines overcome the socio-economic impact of the pandemic. We are focusing on infrastructure projects that have high employment multipliers and support long-term economic growth through better connectivity, “said Ahmed, vice president of ADB. Saeed.
For this year alone, ADB loans to the Philippines amount to $ 4.2 billion, the most of $ 1.5 billion for the COVID-19 Active Response and Spending Support Program, followed by the Assistance Project Expanded Social and Disaster Resilience Enhancement Program (PBL) with $ 500 million each.
By 2021, firm commitments are set at $ 3.568 billion, with another five deals pending. In 2022, the ADB is scheduled to lend the Philippines $ 2.92 billion and another $ 2.95 billion in 2023, not including another five pending projects.
The indicative loan program also does not include agreements for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, where the Philippines could borrow between $ 400 and $ 500 million, with negotiations still ongoing.
The Philippines has already allocated P73.2 billion for the procurement of vaccines, with P40 billion from multilateral agencies, P20 billion from domestic sources, and P13.2 billion from bilateral agreements.
“We are in talks with the government to take advantage of that facility to finance the purchase of vaccines by 2021, so it is an ongoing discussion, but this is something that is still ongoing, the discussions,” Bird said.
“We are committed to supporting the Philippines in financing the vaccine and, as you know, the government is also talking about that in the media, so we are fully committed to supporting the government in this. Clearly, this will be one of the the most important topics for next year ”, he added. -MDM, GMA News
