State-run Development Bank of the Philippines said it released P39.33 billion under a specialized loan financing program to address funding gaps in infrastructure development.
DBP president and chief executive Emmanuel Herbosa said 332 borrowers availed of funding support under the bank’s flagship Infrastructure Contractors Support Program which was conceived in 2017 to support the government’s “Build, Build, Build” initiative.
“DBP remains committed to fulfill its mandate as the country’s premiere infrastructure bank. We would like to remain at the forefront of development financing in the country,” Herbosa said.
DBP was designated by the government as the country’s infrastructure bank. As of end-2019, DBP’s loan portfolio stood at P413.9-billion with about 46.2 percent, or P164.8 billion, allotted for the infrastructure and logistics sector.
The DBP ICONS program aims to improve the capacity of local contractors to complete their contracts and finance their own investments including the acquisition of heavy equipment for construction projects such as residential and non-residential buildings, roads and bridges, water, wastewater, sanitation, power and energy infrastructure.
Herbosa said DBP would like to take a more proactive role in providing needed financial support to complete the 100 priority projects under the “Build, Build, Build” program worth about P3.9 trillion.
He said there was a need to ramp up support to crucial public infrastructure projects to mitigate the effects of a possible slow-down in the economy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We foresee that state financing institutions such as DBP would be pivotal in ensuring that the recent economic gains would be sustained,” Herbosa said.
Economic managers said the government would continue building infrastructure projects to boost the country’s competitiveness despite the reallocation of budgets this year to augment operations against the spread of the COVID-19 disease.