JICA signs ¥9bn loan for Philippines Bulacan Phase 3 road project
The Philippines has raised a ¥9.399 billion ($87.8 million) 30-year (inclusive of 10-year grace period) loan from JICA to finance Phase 3 of the Arterial Road Bypass Project (also known as the Plaridel Bypass) in Bulacan. The Philippines will provide counterpart funding of ¥1.476 billion for the project, which has a total cost of ¥10.87 billion.
The JICA loan is priced at 1.5% per year and will go towards expanding the 24.61 km Plaridel Bypass Road from two lanes to a four-lane carriageway national road.
Phase 1 of the Arterial project was completed in November 2012, while Phase 2 is nearing completion and is expected to be inaugurated in May this year. Both Phase 1 (at ¥6.3 billion) and Phase 2 at (¥4.591 billion) were financed with official development assistance (ODA) loans from Japan signed in 2004 and 2012, respectively.
