Palace welcomes $300-M WB loan

MANILA, Philippines - A Palace spokesman welcomed yesterday a $300-million World Bank loan for the Aquino administration’s fiscal sustainability and governance transparency program.

“The Philippine government welcomes the WB loan grant to help strengthen further the country’s economy, the use of which will be judicious in line with the fiscal transparency being observed by the government,” Press Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said.

In an interview over state-run dzRB (Radyo ng Bayan), the head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said this amount will help boost efforts of the government to ensure transparency for a sustained inclusive growth.

According to Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima the loan will fund the government projects with an annual interest of less than one percent per year, Coloma pointed out in his regular weekend interview.

“Ito ay manipestasyon ng tiwala at suporta ng World Bank sa programs ng Aquino administration sa larangan ng mabuting pamamahala at pagpapahusay ng fiscal transparency,” he added.

Under the loan, the WB will support the country’s efforts to strengthen priority public investment implementation and reduce the cost of doing business for jobs creation and poverty reduction.

There is also the development of the human capital of the poor, promoting fiscal transparency and good governance, as well as consolidating fiscal sustainability through revenue mobilization and risk management.

The main focus of the loan will be infrastructure development and the streamlining of business registration processes for micro, small and medium enterprises.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said earlier that this is a “strong focus on fiscal sustainability, infrastructure, human capital and good governance enables the Philippines to boost our inclusive growth agenda as we reach the tail-end of this administration.”