World Bank raises $500M with 'pandemic bonds'

WASHINGTON - The World Bank raised $500 million to finance rapid response to disease outbreaks, including through sale of its first-ever "pandemic bonds," the bank announced Wednesday.

Drawing on the slow response to the 2013 Ebola outbreak in Africa in which thousands died, the World Bank designed the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF), to channel surge funding to developing countries facing the risk of a pandemic.

"With this new facility, we have taken a momentous step that has the potential to save millions of lives and entire economies from one of the greatest systemic threats we face," World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement.

"We are moving away from the cycle of panic and neglect that has characterized so much of our approach to pandemics."

The fund will provide $500 million over the next five years through a combination of sales of the bonds and derivatives, cash and future commitments from donor countries, the World Bank said in a statement. Germany provided an initial cash injection of 50 million euros.

The PEF, announced in May 2016 at the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in Japan, was oversubscribed by 200 percent.

The PEF covers six viruses that are most likely to cause a pandemic, including those responsible for new influenza pandemic virus A, SARS, MERS, Ebola, Marburg, and others like Crimean Congo, Rift Valley and Lassa fever.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

IFC to help PH banks unload non-performing assets

MANILA, Philippines - The International Finance Corp., the private sector financing arm of the World Bank Group, is extending help to Philippine banks and financial institutions to unload their nonperforming assets (NPAs).

The IFC said it approved a loan of up to P1.79 billion to ACP Investments One Inc. to acquire NPAs from Philippine banks and other financial institutions.

The financing, IFC said, will allow Philippine banks to free up capital and increase lending to businesses that can create jobs.

ACP Investments One is a special purpose vehicle and owned by Altus Capital Corp., which has expertise in managing portfolios of nonperforming loans and distressed real-estate assets.

The IFC said the 7-year senior loan is part of its debt and asset recovery program, "which helps financial institutions in various countries offload nonperforming assets so that they can extend more credit to enterprises, especially in rural sectors where access to finance is limited."

ACP Investments One president Benjamin C. Sevilla said the loan will assist financial institutions to offload their NPAs, strengthen their balance sheet, as well as free up resources for lending.

"This effort will build the capacity of local asset managers by bringing in global best practices in asset resolution," he said.

IFC resident representative Jesse Ang said IFC’s debt and asset recovery program has allowed banks to offload up to $21.5 billion in nonperforming loans and helped 4.9 million families and small enterprises normalize their financial obligations.

"People were able to save their homes and other assets, while the enterprises’ renewed access to formal credit kept their businesses going and preserved existing jobs or created new ones," Ang said.

As of September 2014, Philippine banks held some P140 billion worth of nonperforming loans and P135 billion in distressed real and other properties.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

World Bank plans more funding for Yolanda-hit areas

MANILA, Philippines - World Bank Group president Jim Yong Kim on Monday visited communities affected by super typhoon "Yolanda" (Haiyan) in Leyte.

Kim announced the World Bank Group is preparing more funding for the Yolanda-hit areas soon.

He said the World Bank Group will submit the Philippine Rural Development Project to its board of directors next month.

The proposed project includes more than $62 million, which will help raise rural incomes of farmers and fishermen, as well as repair 230 kilometers of farm-to-market roads damaged by Yolanda in the central Visayas.

"I am here to reaffirm the World Bank Group’s support for the courageous Filipinos who are rebuilding from the ruins of Typhoon Haiyan... While much more can be done and needs to be done, I am encouraged to see the government, civil society, private sector, and local communities rebuilding access roads, irrigation facilities, shelters and schools for those affected by the disaster in Palo and Tanauan in Leyte," Kim said.

The $62 million is part of a $508.25 million project designed to raise rural incomes and boost productivity for farmers and fishermen nationwide.

The World Bank already had announced nearly $1 billion in financial assistance in the immediate aftermath of Yolanda, which flatted parts of central Visayas last November.

Kim expressed sympathy to the people who lost loved ones in the disaster, but said he was glad to see the communities were making progress in recovering.

"The poor are disproportionately affected by disasters and are the least able to cope. If we don't build resilience to climate change and natural disasters, we won't end poverty... The World Bank Group is working closely with the government and others to help communities improve their defense against those threats," he said.

The Philippines is the third-most vulnerable country in the world to extreme weather-related events, earthquakes, sea-level rise, and storm surges.

Kim is on a two-day visit to the Philippines. He is expected to meet with officials from the Philippine government, civil society organizations, private sector and youth organizations.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Top 20 most business-friendly countries

MANILA, Philippines - Singapore remains the world's most business-friendly regulatory environment for local entrepreneurs, according to a new World Bank Group report.

The World Bank report " Doing Business 2014: Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises" found that 24 of 25 economies in East Asia and the Pacific have made their regulatory environment more business-friendly in the last five years.

The Philippines was one of the 10 economies that improved the most in making regulation easier for businesses over the past year. However, the Philippines, which ranked 108, remains in the bottom half of the global ranking.

Here's the list of top 20 countries ranked by the ease of doing business:
1. Singapore
2. Hong Kong
3. New Zealand
4. United States
5. Denmark
6. Malaysia
7. South Korea
8. Georgia
9. Norway
10. United Kingdom
11. Australia
12. Finland
13. Iceland
14. Sweden
15.Ireland
16. Taiwan
17. Lithuania
18. Thailand
19. Canada
20. Mauritius

Here is the list of top 10 most improved countries across 3 or more areas of doing business:

1. Ukraine (112)
2. Rwanda (32)
3. Russian Federation (92)
4. Philippines (108)
5. Kosovo (86)
6. Djibouti (160)
7. Cote d' Ivoire (167)
8. Burundi (140)
9. Macedonia (25)
10. Guatemala (79)

The joint World Bank and IFC flagship Doing Business report analyzes regulations that apply to an economy's businesses during their life cycle, including start-up and operations, trading across borders, paying taxes, and resolving insolvency.

The aggregate ease of doing business rankings are based on 10 indicators and cover 189 economies.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com