While working to ensure that government infrastructure expenditure will not raise the country's debt to unsustainable levels, the National Economic and Development Authority or NEDA said it has approved P270 billion in public-private partnership projects for the tourism and health sectors to help address gaps in those industries.

In a Malacañang press briefing Friday, NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government is considering its medium-term fiscal program when implementing projects and accessing loans for financing.

However, the latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that the country's outstanding debt increased to P14.35 trillion in August from P14.24 trillion in July as the peso continued to depreciate against the dollar.

"We have a fiscal program, this administration has a fiscal program to ensure that as we rapidly implement our infrastructure projects, ramp up the implementation of many infrastructure projects, we do not go out of bounds, we do not create problems for the future, especially by raising the debt to an unsustainable level, raising the fiscal deficit to an unsustainable level," he said.

He added: "In fact, our fiscal program was designed in such a way that after Covid, when the debt was increased substantially, we are on a downward track. We want to get those debts and those deficits to a lower level by the time we leave, this administration ends."

The government, Balisacan said, is capitalizing on the availability of capital from the private sector by using the public-private partnership mode of financing for its infrastructure projects.

"We are, to the extent possible, using this public-private partnership mode of financing our infrastructure while ensuring that these infrastructure services will be accessible to all our people, particularly the poorest in our society," he said.

NEDA-approved projects

The Bohol-Panglao International Airport upgrade, which will cost P4.5 billion, is one of the "high-impact programs and projects" recently approved by the NEDA board.

Beyond its current capacity of two million people annually, the project aims to extend the gateway to accommodate 3.9 million passengers annually.

The NEDA board also approved modifications to the budget and schedule of the 32.15-kilometer Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge.

The project cost has increased to P219.3 billion, and the implementation term has been extended to December 2029.

The bridge would be built across Manila Bay, according to Balisacan. He said that once operational, the trip between both provinces would only be thirty to forty-five minutes.

The NEDA board approved the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center's Dialysis Center PPP project.

The P392-million project cost makes it the "largest government-funded tertiary hospital in the Cordillera Administrative Region," he said.

The Green Economy Program and the adjustments to the budget, scope, and schedule of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit are two more authorized projects.

"With these approved projects, the Marcos administration reaffirms its commitment to aggressively advance infrastructure development to attain our medium-term goals of more high-quality jobs and better lives for all Filipinos," Balisacan said.