The Department of Finance (DOF) said the Philippines has secured about $800 million worth of financing from multilateral development banks (MDBS) in December to ensure the government has funds to procure coronavirus booster shots.
Finance Undersecretary Bayani H. Agabin said on Friday, Jan. 7, that DOF last month signed three loan agreements: a $250-million loan from Asian Development Bank (ADB); $250-million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB): and a $300 million loan from the World Bank.
For the loan accords already signed with the AIIB and ADB, the DOF is waiting for the opinion of the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the effectivity of these financing agreements, said Agabin.
In a televised meeting with President Duterte, Agabin said the DOF “expect (these loans) to be effective (towards) the latter part of January. That will give us funds to purchase our COVID booster shots.”
Agabin also reported that the Bureau of Customs was able to clear shipments of 210.44 million vaccine doses as of Dec. 30, 2021.
These vaccine doses delivered between March and December last year are more than enough to inoculate 100 percent of the country’s population of adults and children aged 12-17 years old.
“The BOC was able to clear each of the shipments within the day and bring it to the warehouse facility to prevent spoilage,” Agabin said.
Agabin also updated Duterte about the DOF’s recent efforts to withdraw $80 million from the World Bank’s $500-million 4th Disaster Risk Management Development Program with a Catastrophic Deferred Drawdown Option (CAT-DDO4) last Dec. 27.
He said the $80 million financing supported the national government’s disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts in provinces devastated by typhoon “Odette.”
“Within the week we will draw again $120 million from the same loan facility from the World Bank, that’s equivalent to P6 billion to fund the rehabilitation and recovery efforts in connection with ‘Odette’,” Agabin said.
Agabin also said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has extended the tax filing and payment deadlines in the six regions declared by Duterte under a state of calamity because of typhoon “Odette.”
These are the regions of Mimaropa (Mindoro-Marinduque-Romblon—Palawan), Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao and Caraga, which were declared under a one-year state of calamity starting Dec. 21, 2021.