Duterte vows to adjust 2018 national budget to support MSMEs

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte speaks at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Business and Investment Summit (Abis) at the Solaire Hotel in Pasay on Sundya, Nov. 12, 2017. (Photo from an RTVM video)

President Rodrigo Duterte vowed on Sunday to adjust the 2018 national budget to support the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

“Next year I would like to make last minute changes in the GAA [General Appropriations Act], the annual budget. I would like to pour more money on these medium small and micro investors,” Duterte said during his speech at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Business and Investment Summit (Abis) and the launch of the Asean Mentors for Entrepreneurship Network (Amen).

“So you guys, the small businessmen, maybe a few billions here and there would suffice,” he added.

According to the President, the meetings in the recently-concluded Asia-Pacific economic (APEC) forum in Vietnam made him realize that “the basic unit of the economy has always been moved by MSMEs.”

“I will review the budget with the [Budget] Secretary [Benjamin] Diokno and if I can add more, I’ll ask Congress,” he said.

“I never promised a paradise for us, but what I promised during the campaign is to make the lives of Filipinos more comfortable,” he added.

The Philippines is the host of the 31st Asean Summit which will officially begin on Monday in Manila.

The summit agneda will cover political and security, economic and socio-cultural matters. /atm