THE Japanese and Philippine governments are a step away from signing loan agreements for two infrastructure projects included in the 27th Yen Loan package up for signing before the first quarter ends.

“We have signed the omnibus minutes of discussions reflecting the results of the appraisal [done by the Japanese government], which is a formal step for a formal commitment… a formal pledging before March,” assistant director General Rolando G. Tungpalan of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda)  said in phone interview on Thursday.

The new loan package, worth over $1 billion for eight proposals, comes after a hiatus of Japanese official development assistance on concerns the Philippine government had not fully utilized the Y13.401-billion package granted in 2003.

Yen loan packages feature cheap interest rates and long maturity periods of 30 years, with a grace period of 10 years.

The appraisal mission, headed by Japan Bank for International Cooperation,  arrived mid-January and evaluated three proposals: the P4.698-billion Pinatubo Hazard Urgent Mitigation Project, Phase III of the Public Works and Highways agency, the P7.964-billion Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project, Phase III of the Agrarian Reform department and the P6.037-billion Project on Forestland Management by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Of the three, Japanese aid officials gave thumbs up to two proposals, the Pinatubo project which is part of the over-all engineering intervention work to rehabilitate affected areas devastated by the Mt. Pinatubo eruption and the agrarian reform project aimed at improving productivity and household income in 129 Agrarian Reform Communities in 54 provinces.

“Remember the Japanese government suspended yen credits since 2003, after the 26th Yen Loan package… the two projects [up for funding] now clearly signal that we have resumed yen credits following good progress made on previous items that have caused suspension [of the yen loan package],” Tungpalan said.

Discussions on the two overdue projects, the Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project and the Agno River Flood Control Project, have been separately undertaken. The Pasig-Marikina River project is up for renegotiation while the Agno project had been delinked from the 27th Yen Loan.

“[Agno] would be addressed separately… we are hopeful it will be processed soon,” Tungpalan said.

The Neda official also noted that signing again reinforces confidence between the two countries amidst earlier issues particularly concerning value-added tax refunds being claimed by Japanese contractors.

“We have demonstrated a viable mechanism on paying those VAT claims… [to motivate] the Japanese government to appraise the other projects proposed for the  27th Yen Loan,” Tungpalan explained.

SIX of the 15 infrastructure projects for Luzon Urban Beltway (LUB) super region costing P30 billion are scheduled to be finished this year, the growth area’s champion Edgardo D. Pamintuan said Thursday.

PRESIDENT Arroyo will ask the Senate anew to pass the bill amending the Magna Carta for SMEs during the two-day special session that she called.

THE Japanese and Philippine governments are a step away from signing loan agreements for two infrastructure projects included in the 27th Yen Loan package up for signing before the first quarter ends.

SORSOGON CITY—Lafayette Philippines Inc. (LPI) cannot yet rest easy with the resumption of its mining operations on the nearby island of Rapu-Rapu in Albay province, a spokesman of the local hierarchy of the Catholic Church declared Thursday.

CONSUMER watchdog National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms (Nasecore) urged the government that standards and sanctions for least cost supply be established and economic dispatch institutionalized.