ADB puts up USD7. 1-B lending program for PH infra projects

MANILA -- The Philippine government and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed an agreement covering an indicative USD7.1 billion sovereign lending program that will mainly support the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program over the next three years.

The Manila-based multilateral lender on Wednesday said it signed with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Department of Finance (DOF) a memorandum of understanding on the program, which will run from 2019 to 2021, last June 29.

“The government’s “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program will be supported by the proposed lending program, with two-thirds of the ADB pipeline, or about USD4.5 billion, allocated for projects that connect regions and communities and manage urbanization, such as railways, bridges, roads, and flood management,” ADB said in a statement.

DOF Assistant Secretary Maria Edita Tan said ADB has been a “very responsive partner”, noting “when we asked them to consider co-financing some of the large infrastructure projects under the BBB program, ADB immediately stepped up to the challenge.”