Announcement of World Bank Approves Loan to Philippines for Urban Engineering Studies on December 10, 1981

·. FOR IMMEDIATf RELE A St '•World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 82/26 Contact: Sundaram Sankaran December 10, 1981 (202) 477-3962 WORLD BANK APPROVES LOAN TO PHILIPPINES FOR URBAN ENGINEERING STUDIES The Philippines will use a loan of $8.0 million from the World Bank to complete the engineering_studies necessary for the preparation of two urban development projects. One set of studies will focus on four of the nation's larger cities, each with a population of over 200,000: Davao, Bacolod, lloilo, and Cagayan de Oro. A second_ study wilJ focus on the region of the Central Vis~y~~ (Region VI I), which is a_~pr~dominantly rural _region with one large metropol.itan center, Metro Cebu, the regional capital. The engineering studies will establish the final design criteria and assist in firming up cost estimates for key inve,st- ments in urban infrastructure and services. The thrust of investments will be on industrial estates, transport, shelter,and municipal facilities such as • sanitation and markets • To assist the preparation of the regional cities development project, the World Bank has financed consultants' servic.es - foreign a.nd.l_oca·1 - total~ing about $5.1 million under two pre\.fious loans. For tb:: Central Visayas urban project~ the World Bank so far has provided about $0.83 million. Further assistance was requested for both studies because of the present con- straint on government financing and budgetary allocations. All consultants are employed in accordance with the World Bank's "Guidelines for the Use of Consultants.•• Overall supervision is the responsibility of the National Economic and Development Authority. The World Bank loan of $8.0 million to the Republic of the Philippines is repayable in 20· years, including five years of grace, with interest at n .6 · % per ye.a r. NOTE: Honey figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents •. •