The Department of Finance and the World Bank signed on Monday four loan agreements amounting to $1.14 billion or around P63.50 billion to finance various government projects aimed at accelerating economic recovery, strengthening climate resilience, improving the quality of education and developing the agriculture and fisheries sectors.
Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno signed on behalf of the government, while country director for the Philippines Ndiamé Diop signed for the World Bank.
About $276 million of the loan will support projects of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, specifically the Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project and the Philippine Fisheries and Coastal Resiliency Project.
The MIADP aims to sustainably increase the agricultural productivity, resiliency, and accessibility to markets and services of organized farmers and fisherfolks in selected ancestral domains and for selected value chains in Mindanao.
FishCoRe aims to improve fisheries management, enhance the value of fisheries production, and elevate incomes in selected coastal communities.
A $110-million loan agreement was secured for the Department of Education’s Teacher Effectiveness and Competencies Enhancement Project to improve the quality of education in the country.
The TEACEP aims to improve equitable access to quality teaching in Kindergarten to Grade 6 in project-supported areas, including Regions IX (Zamboanga Peninsula), XII (SOCCSKSARGEN) and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
A budgetary support amounting to $750 million under the Philippines First Sustainable Recovery Development Policy Loan will support the country’s policy reforms aimed at boosting environmental protection and climate resilience.
The loan agreements were signed using a digital signing platform (DocuSign) in support of the WB’s shift to simplify and streamline its business processes through digital technology.
The WB will use e-signatures as the default modality for the signing of its financing agreements beginning July 1, 2023.
The WB-International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the Philippines’ third largest official development assistance partner.