Philippines needs $8.17b for typhoon Haiyan reconstruction

MANILA -The Philippine government said Wednesday that the rehabilitation and reconstruction of areas devastated by typhoon Haiyan, locally known as "Yolanda," would require 361 billion pesos (8.17 billion US dollars).

Based on the Reconstruction Assistance on Yolanda (RAY) plan, the amount will cover shelter and resettlement, public infrastructure, education and health services, agriculture, industry and services, local government and social protection.

For shelter and resettlement alone, the Philippine government would require 183.3 billion pesos (4.15 billion US dollars).

"We are planning to construct permanent housing in safe zones and infrastructure will not just be built but will also be bolstered," said Philippine President Benigno Aquino III in his speech during the presentation of RAY to donors and other development partners Wednesday.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the Philippine government has already allocated 34 billion pesos (769 million US dollars) for "critical immediate actions" and another 100 billion pesos (2.26 billion US dollars) will be budgeted for reconstruction in 2014.

"We are espousing the build back better principle to make affected communities more resilient and sustainable," said Balisacan in a statement.

The Philippine government said it would need to raise 235.8 billion pesos (5.34 billion US dollars) to fund other interventions outlined in RAY which will be rolled out in the years from 2015 to 2017.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) pegged the total damage and loss from Haiyan at 571.1 billion pesos (12.9 billion US dollars).

"About 424.3 billion pesos (9.6 billion US dollars) of the total damage and loss represents the value of destroyed physical assets, while the remaining 146.5 billion pesos (3.31 billion US dollars) represents reductions in production, sales and income to date and in the near term," said NEDA.

The estimated damage also covers the value of increased operating costs resulting from the disaster and other "unexpected expenditures" incurred, NEDA added.

NEDA said damage from typhoon Haiyan may reduce the country's economic growth rate by 0.3 percentage point in 2013 and by another 0.3 percentage point in 2014, depending on how quickly the damaged assets are reconstructed and economic activity is resumed.

In the absence of income growth this year, NEDA said 1 million people in affected areas could join the ranks of the poor due to the typhoon.

Of the total damage caused by the typhoon, the government said the private sector incurred about 90 percent. To entice the private sector to help in reconstruction efforts, the government said it is looking at expanding public-private partnership arrangements and streamlining processes to accelerate the issuance of licenses to operate new businesses.

Various agencies led by the NEDA prepared the plan dubbed as Reconstruction Assistance on Yolanda.

Aside from restoring economic and social conditions in these areas to pre-typhoon levels, the Philippine government wants to make these areas "disaster-resilient."