Government disbursement of foreign aid for public projects rose sharply last year because of the huge funding released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB) for crisis mitigating programs, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
Data from NEDA’s project monitoring staff showed that the amount of official development assistance (ODA) that was disbursed last year went up by 132 percent to $2.4 billion.
Disbursement from project loans amounted to US$795 million, while program loans reached US$1.64 billion.
Foreign-funded projects, which generally deal with infrastructure upgrade or improvement, require counterpart funds from beneficiary governments. Lack of counterpart funds can lead to a delay in implementation or outright cancellation of the foreign aid.
NEDA said the significant increase in disbursements, amounting to $1.475 billion, is largely attributed to tranche releases of five program loans funded by ADB and WB. (PIA-Bohol)
