President Duterte has raised the highest amount of Official Development Assistance for the Philippines at close to P1 trillion in just seven months in office.
Department of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, speaking during the 49th Annual Installation of Officers and Board of Trustees of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Saturday night at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City, said this is the highest amount raised by any new President in the country’s history. The amount was raised from July 2016 to the present from two of the world’s biggest economies.
Dominguez said the total ODA covers only the foreign assistance from China amounting to $9 billion and Japan’s offer of $9 billion or one trillion yen. These are voluntary offers from China and Japan and not requests from the Philippine government.
“I’m only counting the amounts from China and the amounts from Japan. Both of them are roughly $9 billion a piece, which is about 18 trillion. And there are some more ODA that we have received but I haven’t counted in from various other countries,” Dominguez said.
He said the total amount does not count trade deals like the $15-billion private commercial deals between the Philippines and China. (PNA)
