THE Philippines and the World Bank signed a $500-million loan agreement to support the government’s strategy against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Department of Finance (DOF) said in a statement yesterday.
Carlos Dominguez, DOF secretary, said this budget-support loan, signed last Friday, is programmed for accelerated disbursement by April 30 to support the immediate financing requirements of the government resulting from the impact of the COVID-induced crisis.
“We thank the World Bank for its swift action on this facility in support of disaster risk management, coming at this critical time when the Philippines, like most other countries worldwide, is struggling to cope with the devastating health, social and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic,” Dominguez said.
“This $500-million facility, which is just one of several financial assistance programs made available to the Philippines by the World Bank during this global health crisis, bolsters the Duterte administration’s overall efforts to provide instant relief to the poor and other hardest-hit sectors, and strengthen our health care system,” he added.
Dominguez, on behalf of the Philippine government, and Achim Fock, the World Bank acting country director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, signed this agreement on the Third Risk Management Development Policy Loan that aims to strengthen the country’s capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from, natural disasters, including health emergencies like the COVID-19 crisis.
The loan accord follows two earlier Risk Management Development Policy Loans signed in 2012 and 2015 between the Philippines and the World Bank.
“The World Bank is committed to supporting efforts to strengthen the Philippines’ capacity to prepare for, and respond to, natural disasters as well as health and economic shocks like COVID-19,” Fock, in an earlier statement following the bank’s approval of the loan last April 9, said.
The loan is payable in 29 years, inclusive of a 10-and-a-half-year grace period.
According to the World Bank, the loan will support policy reforms undertaken by the Philippine government in the area of disaster risk management, including the implementation of an emergency cash transfer program during times of crises.
On top of this financing package, the World Bank has also earmarked a $100 million fast-track loan to the Philippines to enable the Department of Health to procure personal protective equipment for medical frontliners, along with testing and laboratory materials, quarantine areas, isolation rooms and other essential equipment to fight COVID-19.
The loan is under the World Bank’s recently launched $14 billion Fast Track COVID-19 Facility.
