The Philippines was on track to becoming an upper middle-income economy, until the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted the country’s economic growth momentum and development trajectory. The unprecedented challenges brought by the pandemic prompted a shift in sourcing and utilizing Official Development Assistance (ODA) financing in the new normal, from project-specific to quick-disbursing program loans.
In 2020, the government entered into several quick-disbursing program loans to deliver critical policy reforms in priority sectors, particularly on improving the country’s health system capacity and addressing the fiscal and economic impacts of the pandemic. The government also re-affirmed its commitment to ramp up spending on public infrastructure as one of the major drivers of economic recovery, given its multiplier effect in job generation and other economic activities.
