Spending more than P3 trillion on an ambitious infrastructure binge now popularly known as “Build, Build, Build” would shield the Philippines from the potential ravages of a global economic recession, according to the Duterte administration’s chief finance official.
The infrastructure orgy, according to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, would provide the stimulus that the Philippines needed to create more jobs and open new investment areas.
Dominguez said in a statement that the Philippines’ positive economic outlook should be magnet strong enough for investors to come in, addressing himself in this case to Singaporean businessmen in particular.
In his statement, Dominguez said he also told a delegation from the Singaporean Business Federation (SBF) that the Philippines was expecting to upgrade to middle income status next year because of its stable macroeconomic fundamentals and “game-changing” tax reforms.
“I think we have proven that we can chew gum and walk across the room at the same time,” he said in the statement.
“We can do reform and we can deliver in the field. We have done significant reforms in taxation, and we are moving forward with that,” Dominguez’s statement cited him as saying at the meeting with SBF members at his office.
The Duterte administration, he said, “delivered in the field” as it was able to increase spending on infrastructure from 2.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in the last 50 years, to 5 percent of GDP in 2018.
Dominguez said the infrastructure binge will create jobs and boost domestic consumption and shield the Philippine economy from a global slowdown as a result of the US-China trade war and other risks.
“The Philippine economy continues to demonstrate strength, stability and resilience in adverse conditions,” he said. “We hope to sustain our growth, relying on strong domestic demand to offset the general slowdown.”
Led by its chair, Teo Siong Seng, SBF met with Dominguez and other finance officials to know more about the Philippine business climate and investment opportunities. SBF represents 25,800 companies based in Singapore./TSB