The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
British bank Standard Chartered has offered to help convert the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) into the government’s infrastructure bank.
Standard Chartered Philippines CEO and country head of Global Banking division for the Philippines Lynette Ortiz, in a recent meeting with Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, said the bank “has been helping DBP for their funding,” thus, she wants more information on how the global banking giant “can help closely DBP as an infra bank – putting up an infra fund, or providing advisory [services].”
Dominguez, in turn, said: “We’d really like to partner with you on this. [DBP president and CEO] Cecille [Borromeo] will welcome working with you, especially with your experience in Asia.”
The Duterte administration wants DBP to focus on infrastructure-related projects in line with the current government’s “Build, build, build” program, wherein it plans to invest around PHP8 trillion until 2022 for its massive infrastructure program.
Among these rail projects are the Manila-Clark commuter railway project, construction of which is targeted in the last quarter of 2017; the proposed Mega Manila Subway; the Calamba-Bicol railway; the MRT 7 project from Manila to Bulacan, and the first stage of the Mindanao Railway project connecting the cities of Digos in Davao del Sur and Tagum in Davao del Norte.
Dominguez also cited the administration’s plan to rehabilitate the Agus hydropower complex in Mindanao to ensure the island’s energy security.
“We’ll rehabilitate those, and bid out their operations and maintenance. That will be a few years down the road. But this is the time to do it, because we have excess power in Mindanao at the moment,” he said.
Ortiz offered to help in any possible way for the construction of the Mindanao rail project.
During the same meeting, Standard Chartered regional CEO for Southeast Asia Anna Marrs dubbed the present administration’s infrastructure program as an “ambitious agenda,” but said the government “might as well achieve it.”
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