Philippine Institute of Comprehensive Development: The real debt trap is not from China

"Filipino Daily Inquiry" article on July 25th, original topic: Philippine Institute of Comprehensive Development said that the real debt trap is not "cancellation" from China China for three infrastructure projects. Because China took the initiative to take action, it was restricted by structural problems. Many critics have forgotten that the Philippines proposed and approved these projects. We must be responsible for the feasibility of the project. China has not forced us to borrow money.

In view of the transition of the government, the former Treasury Secretary Dominogs sent a letter to China Import and Export Bank in May this year that if it has not been approved by May 31, 2022, the loan application submitted for these three projects will be automatically withdrawn from the loan application. Essence These projects were only approved by the Philippines from 2021 to 2022. How many projects worth billions of dollars in cooperation with other foreign lenders can get financing so quickly?

Think back that the anti -Duterte and anti -China camps are endlessly planned for the projects and false information invested by the project invested in China, which leads to a long -term delay. The saying of "debt trap" has been raging TV broadcasting for many years. After completing or opening a number of major projects in China, those professional critics invented a new term "promise trap" to accuse China of failing to fulfill their promises, but they did not mention the relevant background: most of the delays were handled with the Philippines itself. The absorption capacity is related, including labor gaps and bureaucratic institutions.

Do other countries, especially those who have the biggest voice, provide a source of alternative funds? For decades, the Calima Dam has been in the planning stage (the project has been undertaken by Chinese enterprises and started construction in 2021 -editor's note). Before Duterte's governance, most of the projects with a value of 1 billion (1 peso or about 0.12 yuan) were really needed to be completed in one or two decades. The main items have been given to Japan. Has critics have compared the construction costs per kilometer in Japan and China?

Some people say that they must be called "debt trap", but they do not compare the tragedy loan stories of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in the Philippines, and Latin America, or the US banks in 2008 caused the world to collapse and overwhelm multiple countries. past. Among the so -called Sri Lanka debt trap, more than 80%of loans come from Japan, the United States and the market, and only 10%come from China. Critics have not mentioned successful projects like Port Big Real, and the port is now rising to the top European port. Due to the so -called "Chinese debt trap" warning, such projects have been rejected by countries. In terms of loan interest rates, the comparative data released by the Philippine Ministry of Finance in 2019 shows that Japan's actual interest rate is 2.7%, which is higher than 2%of China, thereby exposing the panic lies of the so -called heavy loan of China's heavy loan spread by the opposition.

Fake news manufacturers and fake experts are obstacles to the recovery and development of the Philippines. In view of the many problems and our neighbors are accelerating through cooperation with all countries including the United States and China, we need to focus on the true challenges. (The author is Austin Wang (Yin), a researcher at the Institute of Comprehensive Development of the Philippines, translated by Wang Huicong)

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