Philippines' debt to ADB to reach $9.4B in next three years

The sovereign lending program of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to the Philippines is expected to reach some $9.4 billion in the next three years, not including the up to $500 million the country is set to ink to procure vaccines for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

At a virtual briefing on Wednesday, ADB country director for the Philippines Kelly Bird said at least two-thirds of the indicative program will be going into infrastructure, health, and employment recovery to help revitalize the economy.

"Our Country Operations Business Plan is taking an integrated approach to business and employment recovery over the next three years through a combination of programs and projects supporting structural reforms to the business sector, facilitating youth employment, and upgrading skills development in the workplace," he said.

"We have designed our new Country Operations Business Plan to help the Philippines overcome the socioeconomic impact of the pandemic. We are focusing on infrastructure projects that have large employment multipliers and support long-term economic growth through improved connectivity," said ADB vice president Ahmed Saeed.

For this year alone, ADB lending to the Philippines is at $4.2 billion, the largest amount at $1.5 billion for the COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program, followed by the Expanded Social Assistance Project and the Disaster Resilience Improvement Program (PBL) with $500 million each.

For 2021, firm commitments are set at $3.568 billion, with five other agreements on standby. In 2022, the ADB is set to loan the Philippines $2.92 billion, and another $2.95 billion in 2023, not including five other standby projects.

The indicative lending program also does not include the agreements for the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccines where the Philippines could borrow some $400 to $500 million, with negotiations still underway.

The Philippines has already allocated P73.2 billion for the procurement of the vaccines, with P40 billion coming from multilateral agencies, P20 billion from domestic sources, and P13.2 billion from bilateral agreements.

"We are in discussions with the government on tapping into that facility for financing vaccine procurement for 2021 so that's ongoing discussion but this is something that is still ongoing, the discussions," said Bird.

"We are committing 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 on this. This is clearly going to be one of the most important issues for next year," he added. -MDM, GMA News