PH, ADB INK $500-M LOAN FOR 4PS PROJECT
THE Philippine government and the Asian Development Bank ( ADB) have signed the previously announced $500-million loan agreement that aimed to boost the former’s conditional cash- transfer program amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Department of Finance (DoF) said the deal on the Expanded Social
Assistance Project was signed on Monday by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd and ADB Country Director for the Philippines Kelly Bird.
According to the department, the project aims to assist the government in the continued implementation of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
“The $ 500- million loan aims to continue funding education and health grants to eligible 4Ps household-beneficiaries for…four years starting 2020,” it said.
The loan has a maturity period of 29 years, inclusive of an eight-year grace period.
“This budget-support loan will not only help bridge our funding gap for our Covid-19 response, but will also strengthen our social protection program as we restart our economy and help people get back on their feet amid the pandemic,” Dominguez was quoted as saying in the statement.
ADB Vice President Saeed said evidence showed that 4Ps program is working.
“The 4Ps program has helped 1.5 million people escape poverty since it began in 2008. Through this project loan and technical assistance support, ADB is helping the Philippines expand these gains,” he said.
Including the latest loan, the ADB has so far extended $2.6 billion to the Philippines for its programs to address the public health crisis, according to the DoF.
“The ADB was among the first multilateral development institutions to provide assistance to the Philippines’ Covid- 19 response with its delivery of a $ 3- million grant for the government’s purchase of medical supplies for its frontline health workers, and another emergency grant of $5 million to leverage private-sector donations for a food distribution program that has benefited 55,000 poor households in Metro Manila and neighboring areas,” the department said.