ADB approves six-year PH partnership strategy
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a new six-year country partnership strategy with the Philippines, a development described by government officials as an affirmation of the Duterte government’s ambitious infrastructure program and inclusive growth goal.
In a statement, the Manila-based ADB said it expected to lend an estimated $7.8 billion beginning this year to 2021, an amount it called the “highest for any four-year period.” The annual average of nearly $2 billion, it also noted, “doubles the current estimated yearly lending pipeline.”
The multilateral lender’s programs and projects in the Philippines will focus on three priority areas: accelerating infrastructure and long-term investments, promoting local economic development in Mindanao and the Visayas, and investing in people.
“Our country partnership strategy aims to improve the standard of living of Filipinos, particularly the poorest half of the population, and allow them to feel the benefits of a growing economy through better education, jobs and income opportunities,” ADB Vice-President Stephen Groff said in the statement.
The ADB said it would pursue co-financing arrangements with other development partners to help the government achieve its goal of lowering poverty to 14 percent of the population by 2022.
Under a rebalanced lending pipeline, transport will account for 47 percent of the lender’s Philippine operations over the four-year period, significantly higher than the 2.2 percent posted in the last seven years.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) welcomed the news, with spokesperson Goddes Hope Libiran saying: “This just manifests their confidence in the DOTr, the ‘Build Build Build’ program, and the Duterte administration.”
The ADB said that projects to be financed included the Malolos-Clark Railway, North-South Commuter Rail, Metro Manila Bridges, Bataan-Cavite Long-Span Bridge and the EDSA Greenways projects.
Finance Undersecretary Tony Lambino, meanwhile, said investments in infrastructure would allow the Philippines to join the ranks of high middle-income economies.
“[The goal is] 2022 at the latest, but if you’ve heard from Sec. Pernia (Socioecnomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia), we might get there earlier, next year or shortly thereafter,” he said.
“We are at the cusp … and how do we do that? By making the right investments in infra,” he added.
“What are we really aiming to accomplish here? It’s a Philippines where no Filipino family is hungry; all of these investments in the end would mean getting rid of exclusionary dimensions and making sure we are a lot more inclusive, meaning no Filipino [is]left behind.”
FROM REPORTS BY ED VELASCO, LISBET K. ESMAEL AND MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO
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