The country’s use of official development assistance (ODA) improved in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).
Neda Monitoring and Evaluation Staff Director Roderick M. Planta said the country’s ODA disbursement level, disbursement rate, actual disbursement level and disbursement ratio showed improvement from October to December 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.
“Comparing the financial performance in the fourth quarter of 2014 from the same period in 2013, all absorptive capacity indicators registered favorable performance. This includes the disbursement level, disbursement rate, availment rate and the disbursement ratio,” Planta said.
The disbursement level, the actual expenditure, or drawdown, of ODA-funded projects and programs, increased to $1.62 billion in the last quarter of 2014 from $546.36 million during the same period in 2013.
The Neda said the improvement was caused by higher actual loan disbursements for 13 program loans amounting to $1.1 billion from only $182.60 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.
The disbursement rate, or the actual disbursement level as a percentage of target disbursement for the year, had an 18-percentage-point increase to 68.3 percent in 2014 from 50.3 percent in 2013.
The Neda said, while this was below the acceptable 70-percent threshold, the disbursement rate was a significant improvement compared to 2013 figure.
The availment rate, or the percentage of loan amount’s actual utilization against loan schedule, also improved and still exceeded the threshold at 77 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 from 73 percent of the previous year.
The disbursement ratio, which is the actual drawdown as against the available net loan amount, also improved by 12.3 percentage points to 21.6 percent in fourth quarter of 2014 from 9.3 percent during the last quarter of 2013.
“The increase was due to the entry of about $2.04 billion worth of new program loans, but almost half of which was disbursed within the year,” the Neda said.
Meanwhile, the overall net commitment for ODA-assisted projects and programs registered an increase of $3.18 billion in fourth quarter of 2014 to $11.29 billion from $8.11 billion in last quarter of 2013.
The said net commitment consists of 13 program loans amounting to $4.09 billion and 62 project loans amounting to $7.21 billion. The Infrastructure Sector had the largest share at 40.2 percent.
The World Bank surpassed the Japanese government as the biggest source of ODA loans for the Philippines. Loans from the World Bank accounted for a 39.5-percent share of the total worth $4.46 billion.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency came second with $3.41 billion, or 30.2 percent, followed by the Asian Development Bank with $2.23 billion, or 19.8 percent of the total.
“[The] total assistance from the said three sources of loans amounting to $10.10 billion constitutes 89 percent of the total 2014 portfolio,” the Neda said.
Under Republic Act 8182, or the ODA Act of 1996, ODA is defined as a loan or a grant administered with the objective of promoting sustainable social and economic development and welfare of the Philippines.
ODA resources must be contracted with governments of foreign countries with whom the Philippines has diplomatic, trade relations or bilateral agreements, or which are members of the United Nations, their agencies and international or multilateral lending institutions.