In reducing poverty, PH needs to balance economy

The government is keen on “rebalancing” the economy over the next three years, playing up the output from investments rather than consumption.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said that consumption, rather than investments, served as the main driver of the economy, unlike most of its neighboring countries.

The Philippines would need much more investments if it were to address the issue of poverty, said Balisacan, who is also director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

While robust consumption has its merits, investment are the ones that create jobs, he explained.

“We will pursue rebalancing, which means [less] dependence on household consumption and [more] toward increasing the share of investments to the economy,” he said in a press conference last week.

He said that under the updated Philippine Development Plan to be released in January, the government would increase investments in agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism sectors. Investments in these are meant to develop human capital and implement programs that would increase production.

Balisacan said that, with a rebalancing of the economy, there would be a substantial drop in the incidence of poverty in the country.

The National Statistical Coordination Board earlier reported that 25.2 percent of the country’s population lived below the poverty line last year.  Michelle V. Remo