Philippines, World Bank sign $600 loan agreement

Manila, July 10 The Philippines' Department of Finance (DOF) on Monday said it signed a $600 million loan agreement with the World Bank (WB) to fund a rural development project that will modernise agriculture and improve infrastructure.

The DOF said the loan agreement was signed on July 7 for the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) Scale-up, which is geared towards transforming agriculture into a modernized and industrialised sector through public infrastructure interventions and strengthening the commodity value chain, reports Xinhua news agency.

PRDP Scale-Up, an initiative of the Department of Agriculture (DA), is an expanded response to the persistent challenges confronting the agriculture and fisheries (A&F) sector and rural communities in the country.

Specifically, the DOF said the project will boost farmer and fisherfolk access to markets, increase income from selected agri-fishery value chains, and improve efficiency in the food supply chain.

The DOF said the project entails direct investments in rural infrastructure and enterprise sub-projects, benefiting about 450,000 farmers and fisherfolk and generating nearly 42,000 new jobs.