ADB president Takehiko Nakao. PHOTO FROM www.adb.org
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is set to approve a $350-million loan to support the Philippine government’s reconstruction efforts in communities destroyed by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” last month.
This would go on top of an initial $500-million budget support loan approved earlier this December as well as a $23-million grant from the multilateral lender and its affiliates.
“We’re considering an additional $350 million for the government. We should have a decision on this soon,” ADB president Takehiko Nakao told reporters late Thursday.
Nakao was speaking at a meeting of the Trilateral Commission, an international non-government and non-partisan commission that seeks to foster political and economic dialogue across the world.
He said the money would likely be handed over to the government before the year ends. The government, Nakao said, would be given the flexibility to use the money from the loan as it sees fit.
The only condition is that the government should be transparent in its use of the money.
“The government will handle the procurement and the contracts will be between the government and the suppliers,” Nakao said. “But transparency and anti-corruption are very important issues for us,” he pointed out.
He said the ADB, which is based in Manila, was more than willing to support the Philippine government’s reconstruction efforts due to the perceived seriousness of the Aquino administration in cleaning up the bureaucracy.
Nakao said the ADB still expected the Philippine economy to outperform its peers in the region, buoyed mainly by consumer demand. In 2014, Nakao said the economy should also get a lift from the government and private sector’s reconstruction efforts in the Visayas, which would lead to higher demand for construction materials.
Despite the destruction brought by the typhoon, the ADB kept its growth forecast for the Philippines of 7 percent this year—matching the top end of the government’s official target.