WB: $100-M loan to boost PHL’S fight vs coronavirus

THE World Bank (WB) said on Thursday that the $100 million, or P5.09-billion project, that will be implementing in the Philippines will be financed through a loan.

The Washington-based lender said the loan will help the Philippines, one of the countries in the East Asia and the Pacific region hit hard by the coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, boost its health system.

The Covid-19 Emergency Response Project is part of the World Bank Group’s fast-track package to strengthen the Covid-19 response in developing countries and shorten the time to recovery.

“Boosting the country’s capacity to respond to Covid-19 will save lives,” said Achim Fock, WB acting country director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. “The government has taken quick and decisive action in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and the World Bank is proud to support its efforts. Right now, no other investment offers greater return.”

This is not the first financing that the Philippines received from the WB. On April 9, 2020, the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $500- million loan to help the Philippines address disaster risks, respond to and recover from natural disasters, as well as address urgent needs created by the Covid-19 crisis.

On Thursday, the Businessmirror reported that based on documents it had obtained, the bulk of the funds or P3.14 billion for the four-year project will be spent this year.

More than half of this amount, or P2.286 billion, will be spent for Component 1 or the country’s emergency Covid-19 health-care response.

The documents stated that of this cost, around P1.76 billion will be spent for medical and laboratory equipment, as well as reagents followed by P404.8 million for enhanced isolation/ quarantine facilities and provision of ambulances.

The amount will also cover the P400 million allocated to procure medical supplies, including personal protective equipment (PPES) and medicines.

In 2021, the project will spend P1.056 billion, the bulk of which or P571.62 million will be spent for the country’s emergency Covid-19 healthcare response.

The lion’s share of the spending for emergency response or P440.1 million in 2021 will be for the procurement of medical and laboratory equipment and reagents.

For 2022 and 2023, the total spending will reach P484.37 million and P408.39 million. The funding in these years will cover mostly for emerging infectious diseases (EIDS) prevention, preparedness, and response capacity at the national and local levels, as well as the implementation management and monitoring evaluation of the project.