DBM: Next gov’t needs new tax measures

President Aquino’s administration has been underspending on vital infrastructure in the past two years as same old challenges persisted, latest Department of Budget and Management (DBM) data showed.

The DBM said the next administration should introduce new tax measures next year, noting the country’s narrowing revenue collection vis-a-vis higher programmed expenditures.

“The slowdown in revenues—from 12.9 percent annual growth in 2012 to only 10.5 percent in 2015—showed that existing revenue measures only provide the country with a narrow revenue base that was not enough to support the country’s growing development needs. Hence, to expand this revenue base, it was necessary for the government to implement both administrative and new legislative measures starting 2017,” the DBM said in a budget memorandum dated April 4, which listed down the priorities in the crafting of the 2017 national budget.

For 2017, revenues are programmed to hit P3.04 trillion—the first time to exceed the P3-trillion mark and surpass the adjusted target of P2.697 trillion for this year. Hence, revenue collections should grow by a faster 12.7 percent next year and maintain an over 11-percent growth in 2018 and 2019.

“The government would target a rising revenue effort reaching 18.8 percent of the [gross domestic product] by 2019 and a deficit level of 2 percent of GDP over the medium term, pending the fiscal strategy of the next administration,” the DBM said.