ADB is increasing lending to PHL

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) hopes to increase lending to the Philippines in the coming years in support of the government’s massive infrastructure spending program.

“Last year, loans provided by ADB to the government reached $1.08 billion, a record high, with majority of the assistance going to infrastructure-related activities especially in Mindanao,” ADB board secretary Woochong Um said in a press conference in Manila City.

“We hope to sustain and even surpass this level of assistance to the Philippines,” he said.

In January, ADB and the Philippines signed two loan agreements on improving Mindanao’s roads and reform the country’s capital markets.

The first loan covers the construction of about 280 kilometers of roads and bridges in Tawi-Tawi  and the Zamboanga Peninsula.

The second loan will help accelerate investments in infrastructure by establishing a framework to diversify and broaden funding sources, particularly private sector financing.

The multilateral lender also approved last year a $100-million loan for the Philippines’ Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility.

“We share with the Philippines government and all Filipinos the goal of creating a prosperous, competitive and inclusive society,” Um said. —VDS, GMA News