THE GOVERNMENT is aiming to sign this 12 months 25 official development assistance (ODA) agreements amounting to $10.3 billion (P593.382 billion) before the country reaches upper middle-income status by mid-2026.
Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go said there are 10 ODA loans from Japan, 10 pipeline loans from South Korea, and five loan deals from France lined up for this 12 months.
“These total 25 ODA loan agreements with a complete value of $10.3 billion,” he said on Thursday.
Mr. Go said the Philippines is anticipated to be classified as an upper middle-income country (UMIC) by the World Bank inside the 12 months.
“We might be less reliant on concessional loans once the country moves into an upper-middle class in accordance with the World Bank. So, we can have to seek out other sources of financing,” Mr. Go said, adding that he expects the federal government to be more reliant on public-private-partnership projects.
The Philippines has remained within the lower middle-income bracket since 1987, despite posting a better gross national income (GNI) per capita of $4,470 in 2024. This was only $26 shy of the World Bank’s adjusted GNI per capita requirement of $4,496-$13,935 for UMIC status.
The Washington-based lender is scheduled to release its updated annual country status thresholds in July.
Mr. Go added that the federal government is eyeing alternative financing sources for projects in infrastructure, climate change, energy, and agriculture.
The federal government can also be in discussions with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to fund two projects this 12 months.
This includes the Luzon Digital Connectivity project under the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) price $500 million and “Metro Manila Sponge City” under the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) price $150 million.
“So those are the 2 that they’re taking a look at but not certain yet. We’re still discussing with the AIIB, DICT, and MMDA. The cooperation with AIIB continues to be robust,” Mr. Go said.
Because the start of the Marcos administration, the Philippines and Japan have signed 12 financing deals price ¥910.38 billion (about P341.2 billion).
As of December last 12 months, Japan accounted for $13.9 billion or 33.54% of the Philippines’ total ODA portfolio.
Japan is the Philippines’ largest ODA loan provider and third-largest source of ODA grants.
Meanwhile, Mr. Go said the federal government remains to be awaiting clarification from the US on the newly imposed global tariffs.
“What we’re longing for and what we assume it to be is that in the event that they apply the 15% tariffs on us, it’s going to proceed to use on the products that they were applying a 19% tariff on. So, our assumption is all the products that were exempted before, that are the semiconductors and the main agricultural exports, will proceed to be not included within the list of things to be subjected to the brand new 15% tariff,” he said.
The US on Tuesday began collecting a brief 10% global import tariff, but said it was working to boost it to fifteen%.
The Trump administration’s recent tariff policy comes after the US Supreme Court ruled that President Donald J. Trump had exceeded his authority when he imposed the reciprocal tariffs.
The ruling had invalidated the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Association of Southeast Asian Nations economies. Most Philippine-made goods had faced a 19% US tariff. — Aaron Michael C. Sy