MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has one of the biggest social safety net program in the world in terms of the number of receivers and is still expanding at a rapid pace no one has even seen, the World Bank said on Wednesday.
The country's Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino (4Ps), which now covers 20 million poor families, is the "fastest expanding conditional cash transfer" program in the world, the bank's lead economist Ruslan Yemtsov said in a briefing.
"It reached this level at a very fast pace no other countries have ever achieved," he told reporters.
Joining the Philippines in the list is Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Bangladesh.
The findings were contained on the bank's State of Social Safety Nets report launched in June. It was the report's second edition and the Manila briefing was the first in developing markets.
The 4P program is targeted at giving poor households cash in exchange for ensuring children go to school 80 percent of the total school days and that pregnant mothers are given enough maternal care.
Each family receives a maximum of P1,400 a month.