Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said for the first time the Philippines was able to bring three international banks together under a joint financing arrangement to fund the Covid-19 response under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Dominguez said the Philippine government has successfully negotiated funding to procure COVID-19 vaccines for the Filipino people which was primarily sourced from multilateral banks.

"We were able to bring together the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank under a joint financing arrangement for the purchase of these life-saving doses. This was the first in the Asia Pacific region and probably in the world," he said during the Duterte Legacy Summit at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City on Monday.

The finance chief said the Philippines’ direct response to COVID-19 crisis which so far amounted to 3 trillion pesos is equivalent to 15.6 percent of the country's GDP.

"When the pandemic struck, the Duterte Administration moved quickly to protect Filipino lives. Like the Filipino family, the government did what was needed for the country to survive the pandemic," he said.

"Our social amelioration program assisted 18 million families and the small business wage subsidy program kept more than 3 million workers afloat. These emergency subsidies amounted to about 250 billion pesos, the largest program in Philippine history," he added.

Dominguez noted that despite the increased borrowings to procure vaccines and to provide relief to Filipino people while maintaining economic investments, the Philippines' debt level remains sustainable.

"Throughout the crisis our historic credit hike ratings were maintained amidst downgrades from our peers globally. This is a testament of prudent spending and fiscal discipline," he said.

"Funding our social economic stimulus measure has been a challenge. But the pandemic found us in a strong financial and fiscal position, ready to protect our citizens," he added. Robina Asido/DMS