ODA commitments reach P8 billion

MANILA, Philippines -  The cumulative commitments of official development assistance (ODA) amounted to P8.03 billion as of March 2011, up slightly by $0.3 billion compared to commitments in the same period last year, according to the latest report from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

However, actual disbursements in the first quarter of this year amounted to $223 million compared to $468 million in the same period last year.

Actual disbursement of ODA loans from China increased by 2,740 percent, from only $1.24 million in the first quarter of 2010 to $35.22 million in the first quarter of 2011.

Furthermore, NEDA reported that with five ODA loans, total commitments from China amounted to around $1.14 billion as of March 2011. Similarly, the government also noted a decline in the overall disbursement rate or the percentage of actual disbursement against target disbursement for the period, as implementing agencies averaged only 59 percent in the first quarter of 2011.

In the same quarter last year, implementing agencies averaged 87 percent but because of implementation issues such as procurement delays, civil works problems and national government-local government unit cost sharing schemes, this year’s disbursement rate is slower.

Meanwhile, the availment rate, or the cumulative actual disbursements against the scheduled disbursement, was also lower as of March 2011 (70 percent) than as of March 2010 (80 percent). On the other hand, the disbursement ratio or the percentage of actual disbursements against the available net loan amount, was recorded at five percent in the first quarter of 2011, lower than the 10-percent level in the same quarter last year.

As of March 2011, there were 74 loans, with 68 projects worth $7.24 billion and six programs worth $790 million. Of this, only 69 loans are considered ongoing by the end of the first quarter, as one loan was closed and four project loans are yet to be made effective.

ODA loans with funding from the government of Japan disbursed around $104.53 million in the first quarter of 2011, or 47 percent of the total ODA actual disbursement. With 15 ODA loans, total commitments from Japan amounted to around $2.6 billion as of March 2011.