Manila, Philippines – The economic managers of the Duterte administration emphasized a strong economic outlook in the Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) held in September 18, 2019 at the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

“Government spending continues to boost economic activity,” Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno remarked. “Our expansionary fiscal policy is prudent, sustainable, and supportive of development objectives.”

In fact, with a robust target of 7-8% in the next five years, the Philippine economy is the highest in the ASEAN 5 economies. The growth target is consistent with the projections of global think tanks and is within our reach, considering the rise of public investments in the country.

In the Secretary’s presentation, he shared the country’s fiscal performance. “The revenue effort is projected to increase from 15.7% in 2017 to as high as 17.6% in 2022,” noted the Budget Secretary. “In nominal terms, revenue collection will rise from close to P2.5 trillion in 2017 to as much as P4.6 trillion in 2022,” he added.

Similarly, government spending is expected to surge from just over P2.8 trillion in 2017 to as high as P5.4 trillion in 2022. With a strategy to keep the deficit at 3.0 GDP in 2018 and eventually to 3.2% in 2019, the strong momentum in infrastructure spending will be sustained.

Moreover, the Budget Secretary underscored the massive improvement in government spending. “In 2015, government underspending was as high as 12.8%,” he observed. “We were able to reduce this to as low as 2.9% in 2017.”

This impressive improvement in budget utilization is attributed to the Department’s Budget Modernization Bill (BMB), which features annual cash-based appropriations (ACBA) where goods and services must be inspected, delivered, and paid for in the same fiscal year, subject to an Extended Payment Period (EPP).

“The Budget Modernization Bill, once passed, will enable faster program delivery that will translate to actual programs, activities, and projects that can be enjoyed by the Filipino people,” he declared. “As opposed to mere contracts that takes years to implement and deliver to the detriment of our countrymen.”

(30)