Philippines wants ADB to expand lending

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is urging Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) to expand its loan portfolio in developing countries, including the Philippines, to help expedite economic recovery amid the pandemic.

During the opening of the 54th Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez urged the multilateral lender to seriously consider substantial expansion of its loan portfolio in the next five years.

Dominguez sits as governor of the Philippines in the ADB Board.

“In order to be responsive to critical needs, the ADB must level up. This will effectively support its member countries’ recovery, even if this brings forward the need for a capital increase,” Dominguez said.

He said the ADB must assist developing economies to bounce back, just as the advanced countries and the rest of the world are starting to get back on their feet, considering that the multilateral is the largest and most experienced development institution in the region.

Dominguez said this could not be achieved if ADB would maintain a business as usual approach.

“As I have suggested long before COVID-19 struck, the ADB must continue reinventing itself and realigning its programs to meet new realities and to stay relevant amid the fast-changing landscape,” he said.

“This crisis is a great opportunity for the ADB to continue to demonstrate that it has become a more responsive, agile and flexible institution, as envisioned in its Strategy 2030,” Dominguez said.

He emphasized that reviving economies would be a long journey for many countries.

Developing countries need access to financial resources to boost healthcare systems and build resiliency against new virus outbreaks, he said.

In particular, the finance chief said there is a need to accelerate the utilization of digital technologies and artificial intelligence.

The substantial increase in investments in renewable and clean energy to address climate change and ensure a sustainable recovery is also necessary.

Further, Dominguez noted that the just and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to lower-income countries would help achieve a better recovery from the pandemic especially as response to the crisis has become uneven in most economies.

Developed countries have been able to extend much higher levels of financial support to their people and to undertake mass inoculations at a faster pace than the developing economies because of their vast financial resources.

Last year, a record $4.2 billion was lent to the Philippines, representing 13.2 percent of ADB’s total lending of $31.6 billion in the Asia Pacific region.

This makes the Philippines the second largest recipient of funding from ADB, next to India’s $4.4 billion.

ADB remains one of the country’s largest sources of official development assistance, with average annual lending of $1.9 billion over the last five years.