ODA funding for Metro subway to carry interest of 0.1% a year

The Department of Transportation released early details on a loan from the Japanese government that would finance a proposed $7-billion underground train—the country’s first—envisioned to connect Manila’s international airport and Quezon City in the northern part of the capital district.

The DOTr said in a statement yesterday that the project would be funded by an official development assistance (ODA) loan with an interest rate of 0.1 percent, payable in 40 years. It will also have a 12-year grace period. It provided no further details.

The loan is expected to be signed in November this year during a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Duterte during the Asean Summit.

The National Economic and Development Authority’s Investment Coordination Committee recently approved the extension of the proposed subway project to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

This brought the estimated cost higher from $4 billion to $7 billion. The project was initially supposed to link Quezon City and the FTI project in the south of Metro Manila.

“In most of our neighboring countries in Asia, you can reach the city [from the airport] without ever leaving the [railway] platform,” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said in a statement. —MIGUEL R. CAMUS