SOME 5,215 projects have been identified for public funding under the P7.89-trillion Three-year Rolling Infrastructure Program (TRIP) from 2018 to 2020, data obtained by the BusinessMirror from the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) showed.
The bulk, or 4,889 projects, will cost the government less than P1 billion each, for a total outlay of P311.02 billion, or 3.94 percent of the required spending for TRIP. About 149 projects will cost between P1 billion and P2.5 billion each, for a total expenditure of P226.8 billion, or 2.87 percent.
There are 177 projects worth more than P2.5 billion each and will use up P7.35 trillion, or 93.18 percent of the entire TRIP budget.
“The TRIP is the government’s tool to strengthen the link between programming and budgeting. This shall ensure that the right types or the needed projects are included in the pipeline and accordingly funded,” the Neda earlier said in describing the program.
In 2018 alone Neda data showed some 2,822 projects will be financed under the TRIP. These will amount to P1.097 trillion, hitting the government’s target of over P1 trillion worth of infrastructure-related spending annually.
The Duterte administration targets to spend a total of P8.2 trillion between 2017 and 2022 to usher in what Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno terms as the “golden age of infrastructure” in the country.
The projects for 2018 are divided according to Tier 1 and Tier 2 projects. Tier 1 projects are those that need to have continuous funding in the next three years, while Tier 2 are “new” projects.
The Neda said there are 348 Tier 1 projects worth P805.64 billion and there are 2,474 Tier 2 projects worth P291.08 billion.
Initially, the TRIP includes transportation facilities, such as roads and railways; water projects, such as irrigation and water supply; energy projects; and social infrastructure, such as classrooms and health facilities.
Under transport, the TRIP aims to finance 10,699.53 kilometers of new national roads to help ease congestion and address connectivity and mobility issues.
It will also finance the rehabilitation and improvement of 15,130.19 km of national and
local roads.
According to the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries must invest over 5 percent of their GDP for infrastructure annually until 2030 to maintain high growth and meet climate-change needs.
In its latest report titled Meeting Asia’s Infrastructure Needs, the ADB said Southeast Asian economies need to invest 5.7 percent of GDP until 2030.
This means investing a total of $3.147 trillion between 2016 to 2030 using 2015 prices. This translates to an annual investment of $210 billion until 2030.
“The demand for infrastructure across Asia and the Pacific far outstrips current supply,” ADB President Takehiko Nakao said. “Asia needs new and upgraded infrastructure that will set the standard for quality, encourage economic growth and respond to the pressing global challenge that is climate change.”
Image credits: Wikipedia Commons
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