The government on Monday committed to mobilize more or less P8 trillion over the next six years to underwrite the ambitious infrastructure buildup program of President Duterte.
This was learned from Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, who said the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) has already approved an initial list of 18 big-ticket items collectively worth P427.5 billion.
The buildup underscores the firm resolve of Duterte to realize his goal of accelerating the spending on infrastructure to help pull down the poverty rate to below 15 percent by the time he steps aside in 2022.
“Building infra, as you are aware, has the highest multiplier effect on the economy. It is also indispensable to transforming the nature of our growth so that it is led by investments instead of consumption. Investment-led growth, in turn, will create quality jobs. This is the predicate for inclusive growth,” Dominguez said.
He said the Philippines is fortunate that its development partners and countries in the region are supportive of the administration’s socioeconomic goals, confident that the government means business and determined to work hard to get things done.
“Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno estimates that we need to invest about P8 trillion over the next six years on infra to be at par with our neighbors. To put this amount in perspective, the total resources of the Philippine financial system is P16.2 trillion. That is a huge price tag, to be sure, and it is my happy duty to find the revenues to support that,” he added.
Dominguez said the government is financing its unparalleled infrastructure program through a mixture of soft loans, grants, official development assistance (ODA) and the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program.
“By some estimates, we are at least a couple of decades behind our neighbors with regard to infra. We need everything, new airport capacity, a cheaper and more efficient power sector, actually functioning rail systems and even new digital pathways. We need more public health-care facilities and classrooms. According to some planning experts, we do not only need to decongest cities but do so by building new urban centers,” Dominguez said.
The government earlier approved such major infra projects as the improvement of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) and the South Line of the North-South Railway Project, which will be funded through the PPP; the Asian Development Bank-supported Metro Manila Bus Rapid Transit; the Metro Manila Flood Management Project, which is backed by the World Bank; New Cebu International Container Port, which will get its funding from Korean ODA; and the Panglao Airport, which is supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
These projects will be implemented with transparency and proper accountability consistent with the terms of the executive order on freedom of information (FOI) covering the executive branch, according to Dominguez.
The government’s medium-term vision is to free 6 million Filipinos from poverty and help transform the Philippines into a high middle-income country six years from now, with a per-capita gross national income (GNI) of $4,100.
The long-term vision is for the country to achieve high-income status by 2040, or 24 years from now, with the country having a per-capita GNI of $12,000.
06 December 2016
By Rea Cu
