World Bank's International Finance Corp says Philippines a priority

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MANILA – The Philippines is a big priority for multilateral lender International Finance Corporation (IFC) because of its size and development path, one of its top officials said on Friday.

“Philippines is a big priority for IFC, because of many reasons. One of them is because of the size of the country, because of the development path of Philippines, it’s a very interesting development path, and because it’s a country that is very sensitive as well to climate change,” Alfonso Garcia Mora told ANC’s “Market Edge.”

The IFC is part of the World Bank Group. It offers investment, advisory, and asset management services in less developed countries.

“There are huge opportunities. We estimate there are $30 trillion in climate-related investments that will need to be done from now up to 2030. And 60 percent of these climate-related investments will be in East Asia Pacific because of the exposure of East Asia Pacific to climate change,” he added.

The IFC has made a record $3.8 billion pledge to support the economic recovery of countries in the Asia Pacific, he said.

Of this amount, $399 million is directed to the Philippines.
Mora said they pledge to help companies whose products and services will make an impact on the development of the country.

“We are a development finance institution that always strives to maximize the development impact that we have. So [we are] thinking on how can we help to create markets, to open markets, to really move the needle in those areas in those markets, in those industries where there is a need for an international organization to move the frontier, to move the barrier,” he said.

Mora said it is important to help the private sector so it can do its part in helping economies bounce back.

“During the crisis, we have spent lots of money from the public sector. Sovereign has really really tried to smooth the impact of the crisis, creating the safety nets that are needed, but as a consequence the fiscal deficits have increased big time.”

“Therefore the fiscal space for governments to really help on the recovery will be much more limited, and there is where the private sector needs to perform a role,” he said.

--ANC, 3 September 2021