THE PHILIPPINES is on track to hit 7% economic growth in three years with the acceleration of the Build, Build, Build program, the reform of the tax system, and other economic reforms, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said Monday.
“First is to accelerate implementation of the Build, Build, Build infrastructure program. We have, for the first time in history, exceeded 5% of GDP (gross domestic product) in spending on infrastructure and we are on track to achieve 7% of GDP in three years time,” Mr. Dominguez said in his speech during the 2019 Pre-State of the Nation Address (SONA) Economic and Infrastructure Forum in the PICC.
Mr. Dominguez added that the government seeks to pursue the remaining tax reform packages and economic reforms to increase foreign direct investment (FDI) and generate jobs.
According to Mr. Dominguez, implementation of measures such as the National ID system, the Ease of Doing Business Law, Universal Health Care and the Rice Tariffication Law, will help achieve the targeted growth.
There is a need to “improve productivity of agriculture including distribution of individual titles to land reform beneficiaries,” Mr. Dominguez said.
“All these will help us ensure further GDP growth, lower poverty and more opportunities,” Mr. Dominguez added.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia, meanwhile, said that the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is now fast-tracking the implementation of the national ID system.
“We are now in the stage of procuring various technologies needed… We expect to conduct multiple pilot tests between September and December to make sure that the system is flawless and perfected before we ramp up and increase registration and enrolment,” Mr. Pernia said.
“By mid-2022, we should have enrolled 105 million Filipinos,” he added. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio
