Active official development assistance (ODA) loans and grants to the Philippines amounted to $32.40 billion in 2022 as the government shifted from pandemic recovery to economic transformation, National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said Tuesday.
“The portfolio reflected the government’s initiative to sustain a continuous rollout of programs aimed at addressing the socioeconomic scarring brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, while also seeking to secure assistance for enabling social and economic transformation beyond the pandemic,” Balisacan said in a statement.
The NEDA’s 2022 Official ODA Portfolio Review Report showed that the country received 106 loans amounting to $30.20 billion and 320 grants equivalent to $2.20 billion in 2022.
These funds came from 20 development partners—with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) making the largest contribution, accounting for 33 percent of the total ODA in the country.
The government received only four program loans amounting to $1.02 billion for COVID-19 response and recovery in 2022.
This represented a significant decline in the number of loans dedicated to addressing and alleviating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to previous years, with 2020 having 25 and 2021 with 15 COVID-19 loans.
“The significant reduction in ODA devoted to addressing damages brought by COVID-19 reflects the country’s transition towards the new normal and is now focusing on achieving growth in the post-pandemic world,” Balisacan said.
NEDA said the infrastructure sector received most of the ODA in 2022, with a share amounting to $16.07 billion. The investments in the sector supported the ‘Build-Build-Build’ infrastructure program of the Duterte administration, which is continued by the Marcos administration through the ‘Build-Better-More’ infrastructure program.
Included in the big-ticket projects are the Capacity Enhancement of Mass Transit Systems in Metro Manila LRT Line 1 South Extension; Cebu-Mactan Bridge and Coastal Road Construction Project; and the Second Health System Enhancement to Address and Limit COVID 19.
Other sectors that also received substantial amounts of ODA are Governance and Institutions Development ($7.16 billion), Social Reform and Community Development ($6.14 billion), Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, and Natural Resources ($2.66 billion), and Industry, Trade and Tourism ($0.37 billion).
Balisacan said the ODA acquired in 2022 underscored the government’s continued emphasis on developing robust infrastructure, fostering good governance, promoting social reforms, enhancing agriculture and natural resources, and driving industry, trade, and tourism for comprehensive and sustainable development.
He said the government’s sustained efforts to maximize the benefits of foreign assistance would pave the way to the country’s transition to an upper middle-income economy.