AfDB Approves $ 500 Million Loan to PH for Disaster and Public Health Emergency Response

MANILA – The Asian Development Bank on Thursday announced that it has approved a $ 500 million (24.2 billion pesos) loan to provide the Philippines with rapid access to emergency funding for disasters and emergencies. public health.

“This new conditional disaster financing instrument will help the government manage the fiscal risks posed by these shocks and reduce the economic and social impacts on people’s livelihoods and the country’s economy,” the deputy said. -BAD President Ahmed Saeed in a statement.

The program will support laws pending in Congress that aim to merge the functions of the National Council for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management and the Civil Defense Office under a new department, the AfDB said.

It also supports reforms aimed at mainstreaming climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction into comprehensive LGU development plans, he said. The AfDB said the fund would help local governments improve their pandemic preparedness.

A “pilot catastrophe insurance program”, which is a first in Southeast Asia, will also be part of the program, he added.

The Philippines is among the most “disaster prone” countries in the world because it is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, the lender said.

At the start of 2020, Eruption of the Taal volcano disrupted livelihoods in southern Luzon, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, adding that an average of 20 typhoons hit the country each year, causing floods and landslides .

Disasters cost the country between 0.7% and 1% of its gross domestic product (GDP) each year, including 43.5 billion pesos from earthquakes and 113 billion pesos from typhoons, the bank said. .