Aside from securing cheaper borrowings from Japan, the Philippines is looking to finalize financing deals with Korea and France in 2026, bringing the total number of target concessional loan agreements to over $10 billion.

“What’s obvious to us now are actually 10 official development assistance (ODA) loans from Japan, 10 pipeline loans from Korea, and five loans from France,” Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go told reporters during a Social Security System (SSS) event on Thursday, Feb. 26.

These concessional loans from the three countries total 25 loan agreements.

For the eyed loan deals with the Japanese government, the Department of Finance (DOF) said they will total 371.3 billion Japanese yen, or about ₱139.1 billion, through the first quarter of 2027.

Meanwhile, the Philippines will return to tapping the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) after securing two projects in 2025.

Go disclosed that he had an engagement with AIIB representatives on Wednesday, Feb. 26, noting that the lender is “looking at two projects for 2026 in particular.”

In particular, the target financing deals will fund the Luzon Digital Connectivity project, worth around $500 million. He said the DICT will serve as the implementing agency for this project.

AIIB is also considering funding the $150 million Metro Manila Sponge City Project, which aims to absorb and retain floodwaters during prolonged rainfall.

“We’re still discussing with AIIB together with DICT and MMP,” the finance chief said, adding that this is on top of another list of five to six projects. Go described the partnership with AIIB as robust.

It can be recalled that AIIB extended $232.18 million (over ₱13.6 billion) in loans to the Philippines to support the Marcos Jr. administration’s ambitious “Build Better More” program.

Of this, $188.18 million (more than ₱11 billion) went to the Laguna Lakeshore Road Network (LLRN) Phase 1, as well as $44 million (over ₱2.5 billion) for sovereign funding for the Facility for Accelerating Studies for Infrastructure (FAST-Infra) projects.

Go clarified that the previously approved AIIB loans were approved by the Chinese-led multilateral lender in 2024 and were approved by the Philippine government in 2025.

Meanwhile, Go said technical assistance, launched in 2023, reached $18 million, while investments in private-sector companies—including Maynilad and Citicore Renewable Energy—amounted to $104 million in 2024 and 2025.

He added that the Philippine government will be less reliant on concessional loans as the country nears graduation to upper middle-income status.

“We will be less reliant on concessional loans once the country moves into the upper middle-income classification of the World Bank,” Go said.

According to Go, who is President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s chief economic manager, the government would need to tap alternative funding sources.

For him, it is appropriate to rely more on public-private partnerships (PPPs) to finance major infrastructure, climate change, sustainability, energy, and agriculture initiatives.

He said this was the reason the government pushed for passage of the PPP law two years ago and continues to advocate for ease-of-doing-business reforms to better mobilize private-sector participation.

With over 200 infrastructure projects lined up for public-private partnerships, he said these are expected to serve as an alternative to concessional loans.