WB extends $36.37M worth of loans, grants to RP

The World Bank (WB) extended about $36.37 million worth of loans and grants to the Philippines and Bank officials said they are willing to give more aid if the government is successful with its fiscal consolidation.

The agreements were signed by the World Bank, Japanese government and Philippine finance officials yesterday for the financing that would bankroll projects in health, education, irrigation and land management.

WB Joachim von Amsberg told reporters yesterday that the WB is keen on extending more aid to the Philippines if it could sustain its fiscal consolidation efforts.

Despite the on-going political noise, Von Amsberg said the WB is confident of the general consensus on the importance of fiscal consolidation.

"Ultimately, it will be the market that will decide and if it becomes confident that the Philippines can continue to pay its bills, then it’s financing costs will go down," Von Amsberg said. "We are quite willing to increase our financial support for the country if its fiscal consolidation is successful and it is able to achieve its macro-economic targets."

The WB signed the agreement for a $16-million loan for the Second Women’s Health and Safe Motherhood Project intended for selected pilot sites for delivering cost-effective reproductive health services to disadvantaged women.

However, Von Amsberg admitted that the WB would have to work within the policy parameters set by the Arroyo administration which has consistently opposed modern family planning methods and prevented government health care facilities from providing affordable means of artificial birth control.

The WB also signed a $18.995-million loan for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) intended to increase land tenure security and improve the efficiency of land titling and administration system under a program called the Second Land Administration and Management Project.

The last two agreements were for grant-assisted projects under the Japan Policy on Human Resources and Development (PHRD), a fund administered for the Japanese government by the WB.

The PHRD would finance a $465,000-grant for Participatory Irrigation Development Project and another $910,000 grant for the Department of Education’s National Program Support for Basic Education.