Published January 15, 2021, 3:53 PM
The Department of Finance (DOF) is working on fresh loans from multilateral financial institutions, bilateral partners and domestic creditors to fund the government’s coronavirus response programs.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said they are now working to borrow $1.46 billion, or roughly P70 billion, from foreign or local sources to fund the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines that can inoculate at least 50 million Filipinos.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
The P70 billion forms part of the P82.5 billion budget required by the government to provide COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate adult Filipinos.
To date, the government already identified P12.5 billion, of which, P10 billion will come from the funds allocated for the COVID-19 vaccination program under the Bayanihan To Recover As One Act and P2.5 billion from the Department of Health 2021 budget.
MANILA, Dec. 29 The strong demand for the Philippines’ foreign bond offerings in 2020 even with the unprecedented challenge brought by the COVID-19 contagion has underscored international investor confidence in the country’s ability to quickly bounce back from the impact of this global crisis and regain its pre-pandemic growth momentum.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the low borrowing costs and tight spreads of these foreign bond issuances was the result of the Philippines’ strong fiscal position and favorable credit profile, which has remained at a high-investment grade rating of BBB + in a sea of credit-rating downgrades and negative outlook revisions worldwide amid the global economic turmoil.