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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider Duterte admin borrowed over P1T for COVID-19

Duterte admin borrowed over P1T for COVID-19

Published Feb 3, 2022 02:47 pm

The Duterte administration has so far borrowed more than P1 trillion from foreign lenders for the government’s coronavirus response, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

As of Jan. 14, 2022, the national government already raised a total of $22.55 billion, or roughly P1.15 trillion, in budgetary support financing in relation to its COVID-19 response, the DOF reported on Thursday, Feb. 3.

These loans came from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

President Duterte also tapped the Korean Export-Import Bank–Economic Development Cooperation Fund (KEXIM-EDCF) for financing support as well as sold foreign currency denominated bonds to offshore creditors.

In addition, grant and loan financing amounting to a total of $3.25 billion have been contracted in support of various projects to be implemented by agencies involved in COVID-19 response, the DOF said.

Meanwhile, the DOF assured the Duterte administration has enough funds for the pediatric vaccine immunization against COVID-19.

Finance Undersecretary Mark Dennis Y.C. Joven said the government secured an additional $800 million in financing for COVID-19 boosters along with vaccine doses for the pediatric population.

Joven said the additional loan amount would augment the current funding for pediatric vaccines and would enable the delivery of 30 million doses of Pfizer doses for the 5-11 age group.

According to Vaccine Czar and National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the government expects the vaccination of kids below 12 years old to start by Feb. 4.

Only the United States-based Pfizer Inc. currently manufactures the vaccine against the coronavirus disease found suitable for children.

“For children basically, we need to use new formulation and only one brand provides this new formulation, it's Pfizer. So from the previous loan, we've taken around 15 million doses for this Pfizer new formulation,” Joven said.

“And from the new loan, we're taking around 15 million doses, again, new formulation, which is Pfizer. So that gives us 30 million doses of Pfizer new formulation for those below 12 years old,” he added.

Joven, who heads the DOF’s International Finance Group (IFG), said the government expects the delivery by the first week of February of the first batch of vaccines for children aged 5 to 11 years old.

The finance official said that to date, 216 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for adults have already been delivered. This volume is more than enough to fully vaccinate the entire adult population, he added.

According to data from the Department of Health (DOH), 59.12 million Filipinos have already been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of February 1 this year. This number includes both adults and minors aged 12 to 17 years old.

Related Tags

Finance Undersecretary DOF COVID-19 response government borrowings Mark Dennis Y.C. Joven Department of Finance
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