To support its public-private partnership initiative, the Philippine government will ask the World Bank for a USD2.2 billion loan, according to government documents.
The amount is higher than the maximum annual funding, pegged at USD1 billion, that the World Bank indicated in its country assistance strategy for the Philippines through 2012, The Manila Times notes.
As reported by Devex, the World Bank is exploring the possibility of participating in public-private partnerships being pursued by the Aquino administration.
>> World Bank Plans 2011 Aid Hike for Philippines
The country’s National Economic Development Authority estimates that the public-private partnership scheme will cost some 739.78 billion pesos (USD16 billion).
Meanwhile, the Philippine Department of Transportation and Communications has appealed to the Chinese government to help finance the Southeast Asian nation’s first national railway master plan, which will identify priority segments eligible for the scheme, The Manila Times reports.
“We are still in the scoping stage. We hope it [the master plan] can cover the entire country, but it depends on the amount of assistance that would be obtained from Chinese government. We will request it on a grant basis,” Philippine Secretary of Transportation and Communications Jose de Jesus told reporters.
