Announcement of World Bank Group Lending Exceeds 3,000 Million Dollars in Fiscal 1972 Philippines Obtains Aid for Power and Livestock on September 18, 1972

'·· .;,;· {)M'ir':..r. INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR \;-: 111 01 • ·,, RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT (~) + , ~ •" IN'l'ERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION 1818 H STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON D.C.20433 UJ\J rz/J!SI TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 For Release AM Newspapers Monday, September 18, 1972 WORLD BANK GROUP LENDING EXCEEDS $3,000 MILLION IN FISCAL 1972 C!:HILIP~BTAINS AID FOR POWER AND LIVESTOCK PROJECTS The World Bank Group's lending and investment operations in developing countries reached a record annual figure of more than $3,000 million in the fiscal year ending Jtme 30, 1972. The year's lending included 72 Bank loans in 40 countries totaling $1,966 million.. The World Bank's affiliate, the Intematior1al Development Association (IDA). approved credits of $1,000 million for 74 projects in 38 countries. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) made 23 investments of $116 million in 17 cotmtries. The .combined Annual Repo~t by the Executive Directors of the Bank and IDA, released today, indicates that the Bank Group continued to increase the scope and depth of its development assistanc.e in all forms, most notably to the poorer countries in its membership. East Asia and Pacific Area Approved Bank loans and IDA credits to nine countries in the East Asia snd Pacific area totaled $316.3 million in fiscal 1972. Besides the Philippines, which obtained $39.5 million in loans and credits, the countries assisted were: Bank Loans IDA Credits (In Millions of US Dollars) Fiji 2.2 Indonesia 105.5 Korea 33.0 25.5 Malaysia 31.5 • New Zealand 8.0 Papua New Guinea 10.0 9.2 Singapore 9.5 Thailand 42 .4 /more  - 2 - • The power, agriculture and education sectors acccnmted for the bulk of Bank Group lending to cotm.tries in the area. Bank Group funds were also approved for projects in the transportation, industry, pop~µ.ation planning and telecomnnmications sectors, and for technical assistance. Philippines Bank Group operations in the Philippines in fiscal 1972 uere highlighted by approval of the first IDA credit. This was a $10 million credit which, combined with a Bank loan of $22 million, is helping to expand the generation and transmission capacity of the National Power Corporation (NPC) the ' govemment-owned utility. NPC' s transmission in Luzon will be increased by about 60~, in length, and service will be extended to 80 towns and 20 large power users, in addition to the 250 towns and 2 7 large users that NPC is now serving. In another operation, the Bank approved in May 19 72 a loan of $7. 5 mil- lion for livestock development, aimed at increasing domestic production of livestock and poultry products. Under this project, which is being adminis- tered by the Development Bank of the Philippines, medium and long-tenn loans will be provided to farmers for development of about 1,450 small to medium-size pig, poultry and integrated coconut and beef cattle farms; 25 larger beef cattle breeding ranches; and three small slaughterhouses. Trends in Atlsistance The Report shows that the base of the Bank Group's assistance is being broadened, to include new fields such as urbanization, population planning, nutrition, education and rural development.• Iu the East Asia and Pacific area, the Bank Group hopes to direct its assistance increasingly to such aspects of economic and social growth as education and agriculture. At the same time, support for other sectors, such as industry, power and transportation, will continue, An IDA credit of $13.2 million for population planning went to Indonesia. The project includes not only physical facilities and technical assistance, but support for activities in training, motivation, evaluation, research and population educa- tion • • Develonment of ~ricultuxe The Report notes that, with the exception of Indonesia, most countries in the area·have advanced beyond the early stages of industrialization. /more  ,. J t ';. - 3 - However, the effort to increase agricultural production will be important for • future economic development of these countries. While Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and, intenriittently, the Philippines all import food grains, the a~ea includes grain exporters as well, notably Thailand with its large su11>lus of rice. Despite the drift to industrial urban centers in recent years, agriculture still employs the majority of people in the area's developing countries, making it vital to raise farm incomes which have lagged behind industrial wages. The "green revolutionr' has not yet produced dramatic changas in East Asia, the Report states. Although production in general has continued to grow, demand has inc::-eased at about the same rate bees.use of rising population and incomes. The International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines was one of five major centers which received financial s~1>port in fiscal 1972 from the Consultative Group of International Agricultu~al Research, established in May 1971. The Bank acts as Chai.rman of the Group. Debt Problem One problem found almost universally among developing countries in the East Asia anrl Pacific area, as in other developing regions, has to do with debt a.,d debt management. Except for Indonesia, cotmtries in the area were relatively free of heavy debt service burdens until ~uite recently. Debt problems are beginning to appear~ however, often because high growth rates have been fin.m1ced by heavy extemal borrowing. The Report notes that while the debt service ratio for the Philippines is high, the~~ has been a marked improvement in debt ma~ag~~ent during the last two years. Aid Coor.dination During fiscal 1972, the Bank conducted 11 formal meetings of aid coordina- tion groups, as well as informal working party sessions. The second meeting of the Consultative Groep for the Philippines was held in Tokyo last June. The 1972 sessions also considered the development performance and prospects, and the external capital requirements of Ceylon, Colombia, India, Kenya, Korea, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand and Tunisia • • - 0 -