The Department of Finance (DOF),
through its International Finance Group
(IFG), has successfully
secured concessional
financing for big-ticket
infrastructure projects
under President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s
Build Better More Program as well as grants
for various development
projects to support the
country’s rapid economic growth.
Since the beginning of the Marcos, Jr.
administration, the DOF
has been able to secure
concessional financing for 16 project loans
amounting to USD 6.47
billion to support the
continuous implementation of key infrastructure
projects and other priority initiatives of the government.
This includes
10 loans amounting to
USD 5.18 billion to support the high-impact
infrastructure flagship
projects (IFPs) under
the Build Better More
Program such as the
Bataan-Cavite Interlink
Bridge Project, supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with
pipelined co-financing
from the Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank (AIIB), which is
poised to become one of
the world’s longest marine bridges.
Financing was
also secured for other
IFPs including the NorthSouth Commuter Railway Extension Project,
Davao Public Transport
Modernization Project,
and the Three Priority
Bridges Crossing Pasig-Marikina River and
Manggahan Floodway
Bridges Construction
Project from the Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA), ADB,
and Export-Import Bank
of China, respectively.
M e a n w h i l e ,
about USD 7.04 billion
in budget support financing has been successfully secured by
the government through
Official Development Assistance (ODA) sources
over the same period.
Along with USD 6 billion
in global bonds issued
in coordination with the
Bureau of the Treasury
(BTr) and other budget
support financing sources, loan proceeds help
bridge the programmed
fiscal deficit consistent
with the Medium-Term
Fiscal Framework
(MTFF).
As laid out in
the Philippines’ first-ever MTFF, the government
aims to bring down the
country’s debt-to-GDP
ratio to less than 60 percent by 2025, cut the
deficit-to-GDP ratio to
3.0 percent by 2028, and
maintain infrastructure
spending at 5.0 to 6.0
percent of GDP annually.
Aside from
loans, the IFG also processed grants, technical
assistance, and other
bilateral agreements between July 1, 2022 to December 15, 2023.
Among the
grants include the Green
Economy Programme in
the Philippines from the
European Union (EU);
the Capacity Building
for Higher Education
and the Establishment
of Genome Agricultural
Research Center at the
University of Philippines
Los Baños (UPLB) from
the Korea International Cooperation Agency
(KOICA); and the Programme for the Improvement of Socioeconomic
Infrastructures in Bangsamoro Region from
JICA.
Other grants
secured will help the
government accelerate
the rollout of projects
to strengthen communities’ resilience against
climate change; improve the livelihoods
of Filipinos, particularly farmers and fisherfolks; enhance capacity
building of government
agencies to quicken the
delivery of public services; improve the rice
supply chain to ensure
the quality of seeds and
milled rice for distribution and buffer stocks in
the Philippines; expand
and enhance health and
medical sciences in
the country; and create
a comprehensive and
sustainable urban development master plan
for Metropolitan Davao;
among others.
“We are grateful
for the full support of our
multilateral and bilateral
partners, alongside the
confidence placed in
us by global investors.
The magnitude of support we are receiving
from the international
community is a testament to the steadfast
leadership, effective and
independent foreign policy, and comprehensive
socioeconomic agenda
of President Ferdinand
Marcos, Jr.,” Finance
Secretary Benjamin E.
Diokno said.
“The prudent
fiscal management we
have exhibited has encouraged global investors and development
partners to support our
infrastructure program
and other development
projects through concessional loans and
grants. Rest assured, the
DOF is strongly committed to pursuing sustainable debt management
to fund the country’s priority in