RP asks for $1.2 billion assistance from Japan

RP asks for $1.2 billion assistance from Japan

The Philippine government has asked Japan for a US$1.2 billion
financing package under Tokyo's aid budget, finance officials
said Sunday.

Socio-economic Planning Secretary Dante Canlas said the amount
of official development assistance could be even higher depending
on the "appraisal" being conducted by a team from the Japanese
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Support from Japan, the Philippines' largest bilateral
creditor, remains intact despite earlier calls from by Japanese
Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa for a 10 percent cut on the
level of its official development assistance (ODA) to developing
countries amid an economic downturn, Canlas said.

Canlas said he was hopeful the Philippines would be spared
from the assistance cut, noting that there were indications that
the Japanese team was open to the possibility of increasing the
number of projects that would need assistance.

"This means that they are still interested on the Philippines
with continuing ODA support," Canlas said.

For the current fiscal year ending March 2002, the Japanese
government has earmarked 1,015.2 billion yen ($8.46 billion) for
ODA.

The ODA money is used for a wide range of projects in
developing countries, including fighting disease, building
infrastructure, helping non-government organizations and
developing human resources.

Included in the ODA list for Philippines is the $312 million
financing package for the construction of a vital tollway to
connect two former American military bases in the north that have
been converted into investment enclaves. -- AFP