Opinion-Editorial NEWS

When was the last time you read a book? Do you click a title that says ‘five-minute read’ – and finish reading the whole article?

Some 50,000 “good-paying” jobs may be created in the Philippines if the incoming Marcos administration is willing to develop its offshore wind energy sector.

The World Bank said the Philippine government’s debt load remains manageable despite recent acceleration amid the prolonged pandemic.

The Philippine economy is poised to grow at a much slower pace than government’s target this year due to intensifying global uncertainties, the World Bank said on Wednesday, June 8.

A World Bank study recommending reforms in the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) has found that the state-run firm’s current approach to agricultural insurance neither provides value for money to taxpayers nor adequate protection to farmers.

The Duterte administration has sealed 22 loan agreements with the World Bank Group (WBG) in the past five-years, bulk of which were used to help finance to country’s war chest against the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Finance (DOF) reported.

Noting that the Filipino commuters are suffering because of the inefficient public transportation system in Metro Manila, human rights lawyer Chel Diokno on Tuesday, April 19, questioned the government’s slow implementation of the bus rapid transit (BRT) project in Metro Manila that could’ve served 300,000 passengers daily.

The World Bank has slightly downgraded the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) outlook for 2022 from 5.8 percent to 5.7 percent, falling further below the Duterte administration’s target of seven to nine percent due to external risks.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday resounded the alarm over the negative impact of the prolonged school closures to a Filipino child’s learning skill as he pressed the need to open all schools for limited face-to-face classes and implement a learning recovery program.

The government was awarded a $52.5 million payout for losses the country suffered due to Typhoon Odette, the Department of Finance (DOF) announced on Tuesday, Jan. 25.

The World Bank has remitted to the Bureau of the Treasury the government’s loan for disaster relief and rehabilitation in Typhoon Odette-hit areas, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

The Department of Finance (DOF) will draw this week $80 million of the World Bank’s standby loan extended to the Philippines to support the national government’s disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts in provinces devastated by Typhoon “Odette.”

The Philippines has secured a fresh loan from the World Bank to fund the purchase of additional doses of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines needed for booster shots. The Washington-based multilateral institution announced on Wednesday, Dec. 22, the approval of the government’s $300-million financing, which will be used to procure approximately 27 million vaccine doses.

The Department of Finance (DOF) is planning to tap the World Bank disaster response loan to fund the rehabilitation efforts in Typhoon Odette- affected areas.

The World Bank has approved a fresh $600 million loan that aims to support the Philippines’ economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The World Bank said the Philippines is facing weaker long-term growth due to lower capital investment as well as loss of human and intangible capital.

The World Bank has raised the economic outlook for the Philippines by one percentage point this year due to better-than-expect growth performance in the third-quarter.

The Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), the largest World Bank-funded project in the country, has been extended up to July 2025 and has received additional foreign funds of about P16 billion.