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Growth policies to boost PH economic recovery: Dominguez

By Joann Villanueva

April 15, 2021, 3:34 pm

MANILA – The country’s economic recovery is anchored on growth policies of the current administration and not merely on stimulus programs, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said. 
 
In a virtual briefing Thursday organized by Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez in Washington DC, Dominguez said that while the government bids to provide necessary stimulus to help revive the pandemic-stricken economy, it cannot just provide the funds without weighing its impact on the fiscal and debt sustainability. 
 
“Hence, we are maintaining the pace of our Build, Build, Build program, which is President (Rodrigo) Duterte’s main strategy to help Filipinos lift themselves from poverty,” he said.
 
The current administration bids to increase infrastructure investments to account for more than 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), around twice what has been allocated by the government in the past five decades. 
 
Dominguez said infrastructure projects have long-term benefits to the economy because of its multiplier effect thus, a major factor in economic recovery. 
 
He added the infrastructure program is the biggest stimulus program that the government is implementing, higher in terms of value compared to the cash aid, which to date amounts to more than PHP200 billion; and the impact of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act that reduced corporate income tax. 
 
Under the Build, Build, Build program, the government will spend around PHP1 trillion annually during Duterte’s six-year term. 
 
On top of these fiscal stimulus is the nearly PHP2 trillion worth of monetary policy measures put in place by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to help ensure the continuation of economic activities amidst the pandemic, Dominguez said. 
 
He considers these programs “quite successful”, adding “more important they are what we can afford.” 
 
“If we exceed our deficit, we are actually penalizing our future generations,” he added. 
 
Economic managers have set a PHP1.78-trillion deficit gap for the government this year and this accounts about 8.9 percent of domestic output. (PNA)
 
 

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