State economic managers touted the infrastructure projects and economic reforms under the government’s BBB when they flew to Washington D.C. last week.
The trip, which was an effort to woo more foreign investments in the country, was led by Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno. The officials met with 150 executives from top banking, investment, and financial firms in the US at the Philippine Day Forum held last April 11.
At the forum, Dominguez noted that the outstanding performance of the Philippines in comparison other Asian economies is not the end-goal of all the efforts from the national government.
“We seek a more dynamic and competitive economy to bring down poverty rates and create more opportunities for our people,” he said at the conference held at the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Earlier this month, the Philippine Statistics Authority said fewer Filipinos were deep below the poverty line in the first half of 2018.
World Bank Vice-President for East Asia and Pacific Victoria Kwakwa said the country has the “potential to become the next East Asian success story.”
“Its vision to become a prosperous, resilient, middle-class society free of poverty by 2040 is an achievable goal — but one that will require continued reform and investment to open the economy, overcome infrastructure backlog, invest in human capital, and build the resilience of the nation, especially as the threat of climate change increases,” Ms. Kwakwa said.
The state greenlit the P8-billion BBB program to boost the economic growth to 7-8 percent until 2022 from 6.3 percent in 2010-2016. However, the first two years of the Duterte administration saw a 6.45 percent growth average in the GDP. Just recently, economic managers reduced the official growth goal to 6-7 percent due to delays in the funding of the projects.
“We are determined to deliver what we say, and to deliver them on time and on budget. All of these infrastructure projects have made the Philippines one of the most attractive destinations of the world,” said Vivencio B. Dizon, president and chief executive officer of Bases Conversion and Development Authority.
BSP’s Mr. Diokno meanwhile underscored the resilience of the domestic economy to external headwinds, as well as the capacity to sustain robust economic growth. “For the Central Bank, it is a matter of careful commitment and timely action. The economy itself is fundamentally solid. Overall macro-economic conditions provide sound basis for cautious optimism,” he said.
Source: Businessworld
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