Philippines seeks more concessional financing from World Bank

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is seeking for more concessional financing from the Washington-based World Bank to fund the country’s priority projects.

On the sidelines of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund annual meeting in Washington, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto called on the multilateral lender to provide more concessional financing to the Philippines.

Concessional finance is a kind of loan with more favorable terms that a certain borrower can get from the market. This is typically provided by development banks and multilateral funds to developing economies like the Philippines.

It also targets high-impact projects responding to globally significant development challenges.

As of end-June, the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the country’s third-largest official development assistance (ODA) partner with a total ODA amounting to $8.84 billion.

This is almost 20 percent of the country’s total ODA portfolio.

As a feedback, Recto said the World Bank has responded positively by citing reforms that it has recently approved.

“This includes the introduction of grace periods in paying commitment fees and removal of prepayment premium,” Recto said.

“Another package of pricing reform is also under discussion to further lower borrowing costs,” he said.

Such priorities are expected to be aligned and reflected in the new country partnership framework that the World Bank is crafting for the Philippines for 2025 to 2028.

Further, the bank reaffirmed its commitment to supporting projects aimed at increasing productivity and incomes for Filipino farmers as well as modernizing the agriculture sector to make it more commercially viable and export-oriented.

The World Bank is also looking at helping the country strengthen its human capital development, particularly in education, amid a demographic sweet spot.

The Philippines likewise sought the bank’s assistance in strengthening cybersecurity to boost revenue collection and improve public service delivery.

To improve the delivery of World Bank-funded projects, Recto requested the bank to provide grants and technical assistance for project preparations.