DOF: Phl, France to ink €100-M program loan

The Philippines is set to ink an agreement with the French government's Agence Française de Développement (AFD) for a €100 million or $115 million loan to support the Local Government Finance and Fiscal Decentralization Reform Program, Subprogram 2 (LGFFDR2), the Department of Finance (DOF) said Wednesday.

The LGFFDR2 is a program loan which is part of the national government’s external financing program to partially support its general budgetary requirements.

It is being co-financed by AFD and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), with the latter providing $250 million.

In a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the DOF International Finance Group said the €100 million program loan from AFD is proposed to be extended to the national government in recognition to its effort to achieve inclusive growth and reduce poverty through the following:

* Creating a conducive fiscal framework for inclusive growth

* Developing an adequate and equitable resource framework for fiscal sustainability

* Strengthening public financial management to assist efficient local government unit service delivery

* Fostering good local governance, transparency and accountability

"As such, all activities/ policy actions/indicators necessary to facilitate the disbursement of the LGFFDR2 had already been successfully achieved by the NG," the DOF.

It added that the target disbursement for the AFDloan is either in the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of 2018.