DOF Secretary Carlos Dominguez III
MANILA – The Philippine economy may be suffering from the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic but it is strong enough to “get back to its feet” and achieve more once it recovers.
During a virtual pre-State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) forum Wednesday, Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the government is not dilly-dallying on its program to help the economy recover.
“We will overcome this crisis. We will get back to work. We will get back our economy. And you can be assured that this government is doing its utmost to bring back the economy back to the growth path. It’s true we are having hiccups, we are having a bad spot, but we are strong enough to weather the problem and come out probably even stronger than before,” he said.
Economic managers have revised their growth target for this year from a growth of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent to a contraction of between 2 percent to 3.4 percent on account of the pandemic.
The country’s gross domestic product (GDP), posted its first contraction in over two decades with an output of -0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2020, the first since the last negative growth in the fourth quarter of 1998.
Dominguez reiterated this is the reason why the government is firm on keeping its Build, Build, Build (BBB) infrastructure program a priority.
This program, he said, provides jobs to people which, in turn, will allow them to help in the economic recovery by increasing demand and stimulating economic activities.
“This is a better way to revive the economy than to give hand-outs at this point in time. So we will not slack down on the Build, Build, Build program,” he added.
Dominguez said aside from the infrastructure program, the government will also continue to push for its tax reform program, citing there are several pending measures like the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE) bill and the proposed valuation reforms on the country’s real estate tax system.
He said they continue to work with legislators on the proposed second package of the Bayanihan 2 stimulus program.
“We are finalizing the terms of the new potential legislation,” he said.
Dominguez said more important to the stimulus program is the return of consumers’ confidence.
“This is the hurdle that the economy is facing –confidence in the future. Stimulus program is important but we have to provide our citizens the confidence that we will overcome this Covid (-19) contagion,” he added. (PNA)
