The
Asian Development Bank will extend US$3.8 billion in loans and technical
assistance to the Philippines from 2011 to 2016 under its new Country
Partnership Strategy (CPS).
In a briefing on Friday, ADB officials said
the bank may extend around US$620 million in loans and about US$5 million in
technical assistance to the country every year until Philippine President
Aquino ends his term.
The total amount for lending over the six-year
period will target governance reforms and other measures needed to make the
Philippines a more attractive investment destination.
The National Economic and Development
Authority (Neda) said that the new strategy is aligned with the government’s
Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016, which targets a 7 to 8 per cent annual
growth to curb poverty.
“This is another testament to the very strong
relationship between ADB and the Philippine government which started when the
country became a founding member in 1966. We laud the ADB for ensuring that the
CPS 2011 to 2016 is aligned with and responsive to priorities of our own
Philippine Development Plan,” Neda director general Cayetano W. Paderanga Jr.
said.
“ADB’s Board of Director’s approved a new
Country Partnership Strategy for the Philippines. This clearly demonstrates the
partnership between ADB and Neda in pursuit of a common goal to achieve the
objectives of the Philippines Development Plan (PDP),” ADB Country Director
Neeraj Jain said.
The Philippines, where the ADB is headquartered,
has grown at a slower pace than other developing economies in the region over
the past 40 years.
This is partly as a result of weak investment
climate, low spending in social sectors, and weak governance, according to
Claudia Buentjen, principal country specialist in ADB’s Southeast Asia
Department.
Buentjen pointed out that even though the
Philippines has achieved an average of 5 per cent growth in gross domestic
product in past years, poverty in the country increased to 26.5 per cent in 2009
from 24.9 per cent in 2003, with persistent unemployment and underemployment.
“That is quite puzzling,” Buentjen said.
The CPS has several areas of cooperation.
These include Public Sector Management, which takes up 48 per cent of the total
amount or about US$1.2 billion; Education, 12 per cent or US$300 million for
school rehabilitation, equipment and materials; Agriculture and Natural
Resources, 11 per cent or US$275 million for land and water-based natural
resource management; and Transportation, 10 per cent or US$262 million for
national roads and maintenance works, as well as transportation policies.
The areas also include Energy, which makes up
8 per cent of the total CPS or about US$200 million, for which funding will
focus on renewable energy and energy efficiency. The Water Supply and Other
Municipal Infrastructure and Services will account for 8 per cent or around
US$190 million and focus on improving access to water and sanitation
facilities.
Under the Public Sector Management sector,
projects aim to help raise the Philippines’ investment to Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) ratio by 2016; have at least 5 major Public Private Partnership
(PPP) reach contractual closure by 2016; increase real property tax collections
by 20 per cent in 2015; and improve tax to GDP ratio to 16 per cent by 2016,
among others.
Projects under the education sector aim to
help improve access to basic education. This means raising the net enrollment
rate for grades 7 to 10 to 93.3 per cent; the completion rate for grades 7 to
10 up to 75.5 per cent; and the mean national achievement test scores for
secondary students to 75 per cent by school year 2015 to 2016.
Under the Agriculture and Natural Resources
sector, projects aim to improve conservation and protection in 63 million
hectares of land degradation hot spots with developed sustainable land
management practices in 2016, while those under the energy sector aim to help
reduce transport sector emission by 230,000 tons in 2015.
For projects under the Water Supply and Other
Municipal Infrastructure and Services sector, the aim is to increase access to
potable water of 86.6 per cent of the population; access to sanitation to 83.3
per cent of the population; and the share of local government units served by
sanitary landfills to 7.8 per cent by 2016.
The Philippines is ADB’s fifth largest
borrower in cumulative loan amount. The ADB’s previous CPS with the country was
from 2005 to 2010.
Riza T. Olchondra
Philippine Daily Inquirer
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