The Philippines’ Perspective on TOSSD

This working paper presents the results of the country pilot carried out in the Philippines in 2017 in the context of the development of the new framework of total official support for sustainable development (TOSSD). The results of the pilot indicate the potential of TOSSD for the Philippines as an international measurement standard and as a useful contribution to overall transparency. It also demonstrates the necessity to urgently advance the technical design of the measure, including by looking at the definition, motivations and scope of cross-border flows in the context of TOSSD. For the measure to be useful, it is critical that it captures the totality of official development finance, including both official and officially supported resources, along with “satellite” indicators on the broader financing landscape. The inclusion of certain flows (such as export credits or South-South and Triangular co-operation) in TOSSD requires additional engagement and consultation. The pilot also provides a first estimate of TOSSD flows for the Philippines at approximately USD 3.5 billion (based on 2014-2015 proxy data). The total amount of TOSSD resources received by the Philippines is close to two and half times the amount of ODA provided to the country.