The Philippines will borrow $67.34 million (over P3.9 billion) from the World Bank to modernize Filipino civil servants.
An Oct. 25 document disclosed that the Washington-based multilateral lender's board is expected to green-light its investment project financing for the Philippines Civil Service Modernization Project on Nov. 6.
The upcoming World Bank loan will finance the bulk of the $69.56-million (almost P4.1 billion) total cost of this project to be implemented by the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
The project will "improve the efficiency and the quality of human resource and payroll management in selected national government agencies in the Philippines' civil service," the World Bank said.
In particular, this forthcoming CSC project shall "focus on the intersection of digital transformation, human resource management and organizational development, improved service delivery and responsiveness to citizens," the document read.
"Improving bureaucratic efficiency through the acceleration of digital transformation in government is a key priority of the government of the Philippines," it noted.
Also, "this proposed project will support the development of a smart and future-ready civil service capable of delivering the public goods and services expected in a middle-class society," it added.
Meanwhile, the World Bank calendared on Nov. 12 its board approval of the $750-million Philippines Second Digital Transformation Development Policy Loan (DPL).
For the current fiscal year 2025 that started on July 1 of this year, the World Bank already green-lit the $287.24-million Philippines Digital Infrastructure Project that would provide better internet access to over 20 million Filipinos.
The other soon-to-be-approved World Bank loans for the Philippines include the following: $700-million Pagkilos - Locally-Led Climate Action; $600-million First Energy Transition and Climate Resilience DPL; $496-million Health System Resilience Project; $456-million Mindanao Transport Connectivity Improvement Project; as well as $250-million Water Supply and Sanitation Project.
The Philippines was the fifth-largest borrower among the World Bank's International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) developing country-clients during fiscal year 2024 or from July 1, 2023 to June 30 this year, during which a total of $2.35 billion in concessional loans were secured.
If poorer countries belonging to the International Development Association (IDA) are included, the Philippines ranked as the seventh-biggest overall borrower from the World Bank in the previous fiscal year, just behind war-torn Ukraine ($4.086 billion in total loans), Ethiopia ($3.395 billion), Bangladesh ($3.362 billion), Türkiye ($3.191 billion), Indonesia ($3.028 billion), and India ($2.943 billion).