Yen loans secured for 2 infra projects
Credit to Author: MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO, TMT| Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2019 16:22:47 +0000
The government has secured official development assistance (ODA) loans totaling 205 billion yen or about P98.69 billion for two big-ticket infrastructure projects.
Loan agreements for the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) Extension Project and the Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project (Phase IV) were signed on Monday by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd and Shigenori Ogawa, director general of the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) Southeast Asia and Pacific Department.
The P80.47-billion loan for the NSCR Extension Project will cover an ongoing JICA-funded project that runs from Malolos, Bulacan to Tutuban, Manila.
The 51-kilometer (km) north extension will lengthen to line from Malolos to the Clark International Airport in Pampanga, while the 55-km south extension will run from Solis St., Manila to Calamba.
Construction of the extension lines is expected to commence this year with partial operations targeted by 2022.
“We are working closely with stakeholders in the Philippine transport system and other international development institutions like ADB (Asian Development Bank) to address challenges in the Philippine mass transport system, boost the country’s competitiveness, and distribute growth to neaby areas outside Metro Manila,” Ogawa said.
The P18.22-billion loan accord for the Pasig-Marikina river project, meanwhile, will help mitigate flood damage in Metro Manila.
“We continue to support the vulnerable sector through our flood control project in the Pasig-Marikina River to help build the Philippines’ disaster resilience, and sustian economic growth,” Ogawa said.
The loans carry interest rates of 10 basis points or 0.1 percent per annum for non-consulting services and 1 basis point or 0.01 percent per annum for consulting services, with a maturity of 40 years inclusive of a 12-year grace period.
“This is, by far, the fastest loan processing time in the history of Philippines-Japan bilateral cooperation. We would like to share the credit here with our counterparties, who espoused the same sense of urgency and trusted our commitment to get these projects done,” Dominguez said.
He thanked the Japanese government for its generosity, “the confidence you hold in our ability to undertake” the projects, and “the contagious optimism we share in the future of this great nation.”
The JICA, Dominguez added, has “stepped up to the plate and are really at the forefront of assisting the Philippines in its ‘Build Build Build’ program.”
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