PH now just 7th biggest WB borrower; India tops list

India has emerged as the World Bank (WB) Group’s top borrower in fiscal year 2022 that ended on June 30, dethroning the Philippines that is now ranked seventh with about $1.58 billion taken out from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

In the previous fiscal year, the Philippines was the top client of the World Bank’s lending arm, which committed $3.07 billion for the country’s funding needs.

The World Bank’s 2022 annual report showed that India secured $3.99 billion, followed by Indonesia ($2.6 billion), Colombia ($2.13 billion), Morocco ($1.83 billion), Argentina ($1.8 billion) and Turkey ($1.59 billion).

Rounding up the top 10 are Ukraine ($1.57 billion), Angola ($1.31 billion) and South Africa ($1.23 billion).

IBRD finances its loans from its own equity and from money borrowed in the capital markets through the issuance of IBRD bonds to fund development projects in member countries, including the Philippines.

According to the World Bank, the group’s financing for the Philippines enabled emergency cash transfers to 4.4 million poor and vulnerable households as well as intensive technical assistance to buttress delivery systems.

Support for MSMEs

The group’s investment arm, the International Finance Corp., (IFC) also contributed complementary support for women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and microfinance.

These IFC activities are part of the World Bank Group’s efforts toward expanding financial technology, liquidity and access to credit, particularly for SMEs and women in the Philippines.

In June, the group helped countries transfer a total of $5.1 billion of disaster risk to international markets. Of this amount, $843 million in IBRD-issued catastrophe bonds was intended to help earthquake and hurricane risks in the Philippines as well as Jamaica and Mexico

“In line with our call for climate justice, we advocate for a blended approach of grants, investments, and subsidies as modalities of climate finance,” Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said.

Diokno and his team are in Washington attending the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Oct. 10 to Oct.16.

More support

The Philippines is committed to prioritizing taming inflation and mitigating climate change risks, but the government called for multilateral lenders especially the World Bank to scale up financing support for such efforts.

Diokno called on multilateral institutions to continue providing technical and financial assistance to emerging and developing countries on a greater scale amid concerns on rising inflation, climate change,and other global challenges.

“During this turbulent time, stronger commitment from our multilateral partners will help us overcome the adverse socioeconomic impacts of these crises and build resilience from future shocks,” he said. INQ