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Treasury & Capital Markets
Philippine finance secretary: Economy doing rather well
Infrastructure is the key driver of Philippine growth
Darryl Yu 24 Oct 2017
Carlos Dominguez delivering the forum keynote address at The Asset 12th Philippine Forum.
FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez said on Tuesday that the Philippine economy is “doing rather well” and is expected to see further expansion on the back of government's ambitious infrastructure programme.
“Increased investments in modernizing the country’s infrastructure will be the key driver of our growth in the next few years. These investments seek to bring up our infra to match those of our most progressive neighbors,” says Dominguez at The Asset 12th Philippine Forum in Conrad Hotel, Manila.
“By modernizing our infrastructure, we will address congestion in our ports, airports and roads. We will likewise bring down the costs of moving people and goods in an archipelagic setting,” he tells nearly 300 participants at the forum.
Dominguez, who is the key speaker at the forum, highlighted the recent growth story of the country and efforts by the government to build infrastructure and push tax reform. Recording a GDP growth of 6.5% for the first semester of this year, the Philippines has the highest rate of growth in Asia behind China.
The aim according to Dominguez is to make domestic manufacturing more competitive and to allow the country to handle more tourists. “Investing in infrastructure has the highest multiplier effect on the economy. It creates construction jobs in the short term and manufacturing jobs in the long term,” highlights Dominguez. “It improves land prices, assists in raising our agricultural productivity and encourages dispersal of our industries. In a word, infrastructure is the key to overcoming the challenges posed by our archipelagic topography.”
The government plans to invest over 8.4 trillion pesos over the next six years in new infrastructure focusing on irrigation networks and more farm-to-market roads.
The proposed tax reform is seen as a pillar of the country's economic growth aimed at making the tax process simpler, fairer and more efficient.
“The first package of the comprehensive tax reform programme has passed the House of Representatives and faces plenary debate when the Senate reconvenes. We are hopeful this first package could be enacted before the end of the year. This will enable us to implement income tax rate reductions by the start of next year,” states Dominguez.
The government has a target by 2022 to have 7% sustained GDP growth and bring down poverty incidence to 14% from the current 22%.  
 

      

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