Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a fresh $500-million funding for the Philippines to help the government generate more jobs to sustain the demands of a recovering economy, post-pandemic.
The ADB on Thursday, Jan. 26, said it will release the policy-based loan to “help the Philippine government address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on jobs, livelihoods, and the labor market.” The loan is part of its post-Covid-19 Business and Employment Recovery Program.
ADB Senior Public Management Economist, Sameer Khatiwada, said in a statement that it is crucial to help local companies to create jobs and fill up the necessary workspace.
“With the economy slowly moving towards a sustainable growth path, it is important to ensure private enterprises are supported with policies that make it easier for them to do business and generate employment,” said Khatiwada, adding that the ADB program should “help create jobs, get businesses back into action, and pave the way for displaced workers, youth, and women to return to the labor market by enhancing their skills through training and linking them to good quality jobs.”
The new loan will also help create an enabling environment for existing and emerging businesses to flourish and spur more employment, said ADB.
The multilateral, regional development bank said that under the program, it will assist the government to create what it called a “more liberalized business and investment environment to encourage the private sector to grow and create more jobs.”
“The program also supports government initiatives to expand labor market programs that address skills mismatches and promote training to reskill and retool workers to meet new demands in the post-pandemic jobs market,” said ADB.
In 2021, the ADB released about $2.2 billion for the country’s anti-pandemic response. Last year’s total loans were close to this amount.
The ADB has a ceiling of up to $18 billion in policy-based lending from 2022 until 2024 for developing member countries including the Philippines.