BCDA gets P4-B term loan for SCTEx construction

The Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) has obtained a multi-billion peso loan from two state-run banks and Ty-owned financial institutions to ensure the completion of the much delayed road project linking Subic, Clark and Tarlac. 

In a statement, the BCDA said they have already signed the P4-billion syndicated term loan facility with creditors Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Land Bank of the Philippines, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) and First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC). 

The loan will form part of the government agency’s equity counterpart for the construction of the 97.3 kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx). 

The construction of SCTEx was bankrolled by the government of Japan through the P21-billion loan granted by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). 

BCDA president and CEO Narciso Abaya explained there was a need to borrow money in light of the current exchange rate. 

He said it would have been best to finish the SCTEx without drawing from the standby credit lines for the project and just use the special yen loan from JBIC. 

However, there was a need to borrow money because the strengthening of the local currency against the yen meant that the BCDA was getting less proceeds from the JBIC loan. 

In spite of this, Abaya said the loan is a testament to the viability of the SCTEx project. “It also marks the financial sector’s seal of approval to BCDA’s sound financial and project management,” he added. 

For his part, BCDA chairman Aloysius Santos said the signing of the  loan facility with Metrobank is proof that government and private sector can work together to create a major infrastructure for the economic and social development of the country. 

In September, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) approved a supplemental loan worth ¥18 billion or P6.725 billion to fund the price escalation of the SCTEx project due to the increase in the cost of construction materials. 

As of Nov. 14, the SCTEx is already 91- percent complete. The whole project will be finished by the first quarter of 2008. 

 The Subic to Clark segment dubbed as Package 1 is 88-percent complete, while the Clark to Tarlac segment or Package 2 is 96- percent complete. 

The SCTEx, which is the country’s longest expressway, will interconnect with the newly built seaport in Subic and the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark to facilitate the transport of goods and services and people in a globally competitive environment.