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New World Bank loan for Philippine health system faces delay

Business | The Economy

New World Bank loan for Philippine health system faces delay

By Ben Arnold de Vera

At A Glance

A new World Bank loan aimed at strengthening the Philippines' health system is facing delays as the Washington-based multilateral lender awaits a go-signal from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

A new World Bank loan aimed at strengthening the Philippines' health system is facing delays as the Washington-based multilateral lender awaits a go-signal from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

"The project will become effective upon obtaining the legal opinion from the DOJ and the adoption of the project operations manual in a form and substance satisfactory to the bank," the World Bank said in a May 8 implementation status and results report for the Philippine health system resilience project to be implemented by the Department of Health (DOH).

The World Bank has assigned a "substantial" overall risk rating to the project.

As Manila Bulletin reported earlier, Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto, on behalf of the Philippine government, signed the loan agreement for the $495.6-million investment project financing (IPF) last April 4.

The World Bank’s board of directors approved the loan on March 5.

It was denominated in euros, equivalent to 476.08 million euros.

The Philippines will repay this loan from 2036 to 2053.

The five-year IPF, closing in mid-2030, will fund the DOH’s efforts to strengthen climate-resilient provincial health systems, as well as health emergency prevention, preparedness, and response systems in 17 provinces—including 11 in Mindanao—that currently have low healthcare access capacity.

This project is expected to benefit 17.9 million Filipinos.

Related Tags

World Bank Department of Health (DOH) Department of Justice (DOJ) Ralph G. Recto health system

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