ODA commitments hit $8.8B, says Neda

Foreign agencies committed $8.83 billion in official development assistance (ODA) to the Philippines as of the third quarter of 2012, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said.

Total ODA net commitment in September 2012 grew by $410.74 million from that of the same month the previous year. Neda said a report on ODA commitments for the whole year would be released by mid-2013.

Loans from the Government of Japan-Japan International Cooperation Agency (GOJ-JICA) accounted for the bulk of ODA commitments as of September with 36.7 percent ($3.24 billion).

Other development partners from Austria, France, Germany, Korea, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, and Spain—as well as the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Opec Fund for International Development—committed $1.84 billion, accounting for 20.89 percent of the total.

The World Bank also committed $1.56 billion, which was 17.71 percent of the total, while China pledged $1.11 billion, accounting for 12.53 percent.

The Asian Development Bank’s share reached 12.19 percent of the total committed with $1.08 billion.

“The increase in total net commitment was due to one newly signed loan, one newly effective loan recorded during the quarter, and adjustments reflecting exchange rate fluctuations,” said Roderick M. Planta, Neda-Project Monitoring Staff (PMS) director.

The newly signed loan referred to was the Jalaur River Multipurpose Irrigation Project-Phase II, which has a net commitment of $207.88 million. The lead proponent for the project is the National Irrigation Administration, the Neda official said yesterday.

The Flood Risk Management Project in Selected Principal Rivers 2 is the newly effective loan reported in September with an amount of $95.83 million. The project’s lead proponent is the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Meanwhile, adjustments in loan net commitments due to exchange rate fluctuations amounted to $14.6 million.

Total ODA net commitment as of September 2012 consisted of 74 loans, of which 67 were worth $7.69 billion. Seven program loans worth $1.14 billion also came in.

From these loans, $496.58 million were already disbursed in September. That amount was lower than the $942.98 million in disbursements reported in the same month the previous year.