ODA disbursements by gov't picked up last year.

By Chino S. Leyco

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said that the government's capability to implement foreign-assisted programs and projects improved last year due to the implementing agencies' better financial performance.

Based on NEDA's 2017 Official Development Assistance (ODA) Portfolio Review Report, the government's disbursement level, disbursement rate, availment rate and disbursement ratio of development assistance improved in 2017.

All indicators have improved, which showed that the government's absorptive capacity for ODA loans is increasing, the NEDA noted.

The disbursement level of ODA loans, or the amount of actual draw-downs from loan proceeds, rose by 11.5 percent last year to $1.40 billion from $1.25 billion in the previous year.

Disbursement rate, or the actual disbursement level as a percentage of target disbursement for the period, was at 67.21 percent, an increase from the previous year's 61.12 percent.

The availment rate jumped by 6.0 percentage points to 71.50 percent.

"This is the cumulative actual disbursements as a percentage of cumulative scheduled disbursement, both reckoned from the start of implementation up to the reporting period," NEDA explained.

The disbursement ratio -- or the ratio of actual disbursements for a given year to the loan balance available at the beginning of that year inclusive of newly effective loans -- reached 16.66 percent, an increase of 29 percent from the previous year.

"This means implementing agencies are improving their technical capacities and making headway in resolving key issues that cause delays in the execution of programs and projects," Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said in a statement.

The Philippines' total outstanding ODA portfolio in 2017 reached $14.72 billion, constituting 352 grants amounting to $2.42 billion and 70 loans costing $12.30 billion, the NEDA's report said.