THE PHILIPPINES continues to sink in debts the government trumpeted fresh loans running into billions of pesos to fund the purchases of anti-Covid vaccines and other responses to the pandemic.
President Rodrigo
Duterte had already borrowed billions of pesos since 2016 after winning the
election, for his ambitious Build, Build, Build infrastructure projects and
dole outs to poor families across the country.
Finance Secretary
Carlos Dominguez III told Duterte in a recent briefing that the government has
3 sources of funding through various loan agreements – the Asian Development
Bank (ADB), the World Bank and domestic banks such as Land Bank of the
Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), and even Government-Controlled
Corporations.
He said government
can get as much as P40 billion loans from ADB and World Bank, and another P20
billion from domestic sources. And not only that because Dominguez is also
looking to get more loans from bilateral sources in the United Kingdom (UK) and
the United States (US) where Covid-19 vaccines are available amounting to over
P13 billion.
“Mr. President,
may tatlong sources po tayo ng funding okay. Ang first — ang unang source natin
‘yung mga multilateral agencies: ADB at saka World Bank. Ang estimate namin we
will have around 40 billion pesos from them. Low cost, long-term loans, 40
billion from multilateral agencies.”
“Tapos mayroon po
tayong domestic sources of financing. Ang domestic sources of financing we
estimate around 20 billion. So that will come from Land Bank, DBP, and possibly
‘yung mga government-controlled corporations. So that’s 20 billion,” he said.
Dominguez added
that the government will negotiate with bilateral sources in UK and US for the
purchase of the vaccines.
“Tapos
magne-negotiate pa po tayo sa mga bilateral sources depende sa source ng —
depende sa source ng vaccine, either England or US or whoever. And ang target
po namin doon around 13.2 billion pesos. So ang total niyan is about 73.2
billion financing that it’s pretty much — it’s almost fixed. Most of it is
already fixed, 13.2 billion hindi pa completely negotiated. So 73.2 billion
pesos,” he said.
Dominguez
estimated the cost of the vaccine at around $25 (about P1,200) per person and since
the government is targeting to vaccinate some 60 million Filipinos, he said the
loans are enough to cover the expenses.
“Ngayon ang estimate
namin sa average cost ng vaccine is around 25 dollars — not per dose, per
person. ‘Di ba? Around 25 dollars which is 1,200 pesos more or less. Some are
lower, some are higher so we don’t know yet exactly how much is the cost. But
let’s say 25 dollars or 1,200, 72 — 73.2 billion pesos is good for 60 million
people to be vaccinated, around 60 million people. So that is more or less what
we have in line. Ngayon, we’ll have to consult with the DOH if 60 million is
enough, if 60 million people is enough to be vaccinated,” he explained.
Aside from
massive borrowings, Duterte also hiked taxes despite public outcry, saying he
needed it to fund government more projects. The Bureau of Treasury said the government’s outstanding debt stood at P9.
615 trillion as of August 2020. (Mindanao
Examiner)
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