The Philippines and South Korea signed on Friday, Dec. 17, an agreement for a US$100-million loan intended to boost the country's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination program.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, on behalf of the Philippines, and Country Chief Representative Jaejeong Moon, representing the Export-Import Bank of Korea-Economic Development Cooperation Fund (KEXIM-EDCF) signed the agreement for the second phase of the Program Loan for COVID-19 Emergency Response Program—Vaccination Program (PLCERP II), the Korean Embassy in the Philippines said in a statement.
“This financial assistance from Korea will go a long way in helping the Duterte administration rev up its mass vaccination program against COVID-19 that is crucial to the strong rebound by our domestic economy come 2022,” Dominguez said.
Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Kim Inchul, on the other hand, said, "Through this agreement, Korea is able to make further contribution to the Philippine government's tireless efforts to combat the pandemic and ultimately achieve early economic recovery,” adding that South Korea will continue to remain committed to support the Philippines in fighting the pandemic.
According to the International Finance Group of the Department of Finance (DOF-IFG), PLCERP II will help “secure financial sustainability and fill the budgetary gap” in implementing the Department of Health (DOH)’s national COVID-19 vaccination program.
It added that the loan is designed to support the implementation, monitoring, and management of the ongoing vaccination drive.
In October 2020, Korea extended a US$100-million loan to the government for the first phase of the PLCERP, which aimed to build systematic policy measures to respond to the Philippines’ public health challenges caused by the pandemic.
As with the first phase of the loan, the PLCERP II is also payable in 30 years, inclusive of a 10-year grace period and with a fixed interest rate of 1.5 percent.
Korea has also extended a US$50-million loan to the Philippines-Korea Project Preparation Facility (PK-PPF) to bridge operational gaps in implementing projects under President Duterte’s infrastructure program “Build, Build, Build.”
The foreign country has also shared its expertise and assistance in setting up an electronic invoicing system in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to improve tax administration.
Korea has already committed Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans to the Philippines amounting to US$1.25-billion as of 2020 and it intends to expand its assistance to the Philippines up to US$3-billion in the next five years.