$500-M World Bank credit line to increase disaster funds

The plan to tap a $500-million credit line from the World Bank is meant to increase the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (NDRRM) fund to boost rehabilitation efforts in the wake of Typhoon Ompong.

The available NDRRM funds presently amount to P1.19 billion out of the total P19.6 billion under the 2018 budget, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Undersecretary Adoracion Navarro said Friday.

Navarro said the government can access the $500-million standby credit line for the Philippines from the World Bank.

The credit line was approved by the World Bank in 2015 to manage risks posed by natural disasters, and may be tapped once a state of calamity is declared by the President.

“We are tapping that to augment the NDRRM fund,” Navarro said during the AskNEDA briefing in Pasig City.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), in a special meeting on Thursday, has established that conditions necessary to declare a state of calamity in Ompong-hit Regions I, II, III, and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) are present.

“The resolution will be sent to the Office of the President within the week,” Navarro noted.

Once a state of calamity has been declared, the World Bank fund may be activated within 48 hours.

According to the Department of Finance, the loan facility has an available balance of $497.5 million as of August this year, minus a 0.5-percent front-end fee.

While the government intends to tap the World Bank credit line, the NEDA chief Ernesto Pernia clarified that it does not necessarily mean that local funds are insufficient.

“We should first use our own local resources. And if there is a need for additional fund, we can access it,” Pernia said. —VDS, GMA News