Neda: P10.6-T infra program to add P31.2T to economy

The government’s P10.6-trillion infrastructure investment program in the next five years will add P31.2 trillion to the economy on top of creating up to 1.1 million jobs each year, the state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said Wednesday.

Neda Assistant Secretary Jonathan L. Uy told a press conference that under the 2018-2022 Public Investment Program (PIP), which included the 75 flagship projects under the ambitious “Build, Build, Build” program as well as smaller scale projects across the country, a total of 4,984 infrastructure projects will be started during the term of President Rodrigo Duterte.

For the flagship infrastructure projects, 32 will be finished by 2022, while the rest will be completed beyond the Duterte administration.

So far, 35 flagship projects worth P1.243 trillion were already green-lighted by the Neda Board chaired by the President, while 33 were pending approval by either the Neda Board or the Cabinet-level, interagency Investment Coordination Committee.

As of May, about 24 projects were under development, 43 for implementation, and three were for review.

In all, the flagship infrastructure projects will generate an average of 1.1 million new direct and indirect employment opportunities. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said.

As for the smaller projects under the 2018-2022 PIP, Uy said that since the government was slated to start the implementation of a cash-based budgeting system starting 2019, all of these projects will be completed within a one-year period.

Under the massive “Build, Build, Build” program, the government plans to rollout 75 “game-changing” projects alongside spending a total of over P8 trillion on hard and modern infrastructure until 2022 in a bid to usher in the “golden age of infrastructure.” /jpv

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