The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is favorably considering a Philippines loan application to help it combat the impact of the global financial crisis, a senior official at the bank told Reuters on Thursday.

"The Philippines has applied, and we are considering that favorably," Rajat Nag, ADB's managing director general, said in Seoul on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on East Asia events.

"We certainly would very much like to support the government and assist the country," he said. "We are trying to do it as soon as possible because, for all of this, speed is critical."

He did not reveal the value of the loan the Philippines wants.

The government said in May it was requesting a $500 million loan from the ADB's $3 billion counter-cyclical fund, which was set up to help Asian nations cope with the financial crisis.

Conditions for accessing the facility include a significant slowdown in growth, exports and remittances; fiscal constraints; and difficulty in sourcing finance from international capital markets on favourable terms.

Officials said they would prefer to use development assistance rather than tap international capital markets.

However, Manila said this month it will need an additional P52 billion ($1.1 billion) in local and foreign borrowings this year to meet a surge in the government's budget deficit.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Finance Secretary Margarito Teves are currently in Tokyo and are likely to discuss a plan to issue at least $1 billion in Samurai bonds, officials have said.