THE Marcos administration is aiming to secure $10.3 billion in concessional loans this year through official development assistance (ODA) agreements with three countries, a Cabinet official said.
“What’s obvious to us now are actually 10 ODA loans from Japan, 10 pipeline loans from Korea and five loans from France,” Finance Secretary Frederick Go told on Thursday.
Go said the government was targeting the signing of 25 ODA loan agreements in 2026, to be finalized by the Department of Finance (DOF).
Based on DOF data, the largest share will come from South Korea via 10 ODA loans amounting to $6.2 billion.
Japan is being tapped for another 10 ODA loans worth ¥354.31 billion, or about $2.29 billion. These are targeted to be signed within Japan’s 2026 fiscal year that runs until March 2027.
France, meanwhile, is expected to account for five ODA loans totaling 1.529 billion euros, or around $1.836 billion.
ODA loans support developing countries by providing low-interest, long-term and concessional funds.
Go said the government would be relying less on concessional loans once it hits upper-middle-income status, which means “we will have to find other sources of financing.”
“[M]ost importantly for the major projects, which are infrastructure, climate change, sustainability, energy, and agriculture, I think we will have to become more and more reliant on the PPP (public-private partnerships)...,” he added, which is why the PPP law was pushed and passed two years ago.
“[W]ith our 200-plus infrastructure projects that are being offered for PPP projects, that will have to become the alternative to the concessional loans,” Go said.
Based on the latest official review, the total value of the Philippines’ active ODA-funded projects grew by 6.0 percent to $39.6 billion in 2024 from $37.3 billion in 2023.
Transport and connectivity infrastructure accounted for the largest share, both in value ($42.81 billion or 62.7 percent) and number (120 loans or grants). A total of 79 loans and grants valued at $6.4 billion (16 percent) were also listed under the governance and institutions development sector.
