The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved an $800 million financing package to support the Philippines in strengthening fiscal resilience, expanding private investment opportunities, and equipping its workforce with skills needed for higher-quality and more productive jobs.
The funding, provided through the Philippines Growth and Jobs Development Policy Loan, supports a set of policy and institutional reforms aimed at strengthening fiscal management, improving the business environment, and advancing skills and human capital development to support long-term workforce growth.
A key focus of the programme is strengthening fiscal management through reforms that enhance domestic resource mobilisation and improve the efficiency of public spending. These measures aim to safeguard fiscal space for priority investments in infrastructure and human capital that can support job creation and workforce development.
The reform package also targets improvements to the business-enabling environment. Measures include streamlining regulations, lowering compliance costs for companies, promoting competition, and advancing policies that encourage private participation and foreign direct investment in key sectors. These changes are expected to help businesses expand operations, increase investment, and generate better-paying employment opportunities.Another major pillar focuses on workforce capabilities through reforms in education, training and innovation. The programme aims to improve learning outcomes from early childhood education through basic education, while upgrading technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems to better align workforce skills with industry demand. Strengthening the innovation ecosystem is also expected to help firms access the talent needed to scale and compete in higher-value sectors.
Zafer Mustafaoğlu, World Bank Division Director for the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, said the initiative supports the country’s efforts to translate strong economic growth into more and better-paying jobs by strengthening fiscal foundations, improving the investment climate and investing in human capital.World Bank Senior Economist Jaffar Al-Rikabi said the reforms are designed to attract private investment, support job creation and move the Philippine economy towards higher-value and more sophisticated activities.
The financing comes as the Philippines’ gross national income per capita has reached the threshold for upper-middle income economies, supported by sustained GDP growth since 2010 that has allowed the economy to double in size roughly every 13.5 years. However, policymakers continue to pursue structural reforms to address domestic and external shocks and sustain job-rich growth.
Implementation of the reform programme will involve multiple government agencies, including the Department of Education, the Department of Finance, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.The Development Policy Loan also complements the World Bank’s broader engagements in the Philippines, including investments and advisory work in connectivity, agricultural modernisation, digital infrastructure and financial sector development, alongside support from the International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency to mobilise private capital.