Philippine banks pooling $1B to finance public projects

Philippine banks will pool up to US$1 billion to finance projects under the public private partnership initiative of the government.

Banco de Oro chair Tessie Sy-Coson said Philippine banks were willing to provide funding because “this is how much confidence we have in the PPP” and because of the current high liquidity situation in the country.

“If we were to work together with the local banks I think we can put about US$1 billion. There’s a lot of liquidity in the market right now,” she said. 

Sy-Coson said contribution of each bank on the proposed fund depends on the banks’ single borrower’s limit and on what they will agree on.

“It’s a matter of negotiations and working together,” she said.

Asked what PPP projects the banks want to fund, Sy-Coson said they were “not selective.” “As long as the proponent is good, the project is good, we’ll go into it,” she said.

The government targets to roll-out eight PPP projects this year.

Two PPP projects have been awarded so far – the Daang Hari-SLEX Link road project, which involves the construction of four-km connector road from Daang Hari in Las Piñas to South Luzon Express Way, and the PPP for school infrastructure project, which involves the design, financing, and construction of about 9,300 one-story and two-story classrooms, including furniture and fixture, in Region I, III, and IV-A.

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