JAPAN STILL TOP SOURCE OF ODA IN FIRST HALF

The Japanese government is the Philippines’ top source of official development assistance (ODA) at the end of the first half, the latest data from the state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority showed.

In a statement yesterday, Neda said ODA loans from Japan stood at $4.84 billion as of end-June, accounting for 44.83 percent of the total outstanding amount.

ODA loans from the Japanese government are administered by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).

“Japan has been our longtime development partner and we have established a strong relationship with them. They have one of the best loan terms,” Neda Undersecretary Rolando G. Tungpalan said.

Tungpalan noted that Jica loans under its special terms for economic partnership or "Step" have a 40year payment period, an interest rate of only 0.1 percent a year for civil works on top of 0.01 percent for consulting services.

Besides Japan, the other top ODA sources were multilateral lenders such as the World Bank with $2.95 billion (27.31 percent of the end-June total) and the Manila-based Asian Development Bank with $2.17 billion (20.14-percent share).

The outstanding ODA loan portfolio as of June totaled $10.8 billion, with $8.2 billion across 54 project loans as well as $2.6 billion in seven program loans.

The disbursement level declined to $802.95 million during the first six months from $861.04 million from January to June last year. The disbursement rate nonetheless rose to 86.68 percent in the first half from 71.38 percent a year ago.

Tungpalan said 23 of the 35 projects approved by the Neda Board so far during the Duterte administration would be financed by ODA.