PHL needs to up spending on infrastructure — ADB official

The Philippines needs to meet its infrastructure needs by raising the budget by up to 7 percent of the gross domestic product, over and above the allocations for public-private partnership projects, an official of Asian Development Bank said Tuesday. “The public sector has a huge responsibility to invest in infrastructure projects,” Neeraj Jain, ADB country director for the Philippines, told reporters at the sidelines of a press briefing at the bank's headquarters. “Even in very mature PPP environments in other countries, governments have really to invest as much as 70 to 80 percent of infrastructure investment through the budget,” Jain said. The Philippine government now spends about 2.5 to 3 percent of GDP on infrastructure, ADB official said. “I think last year it was 2.7 of GDP. It should go up to 6 to 7 percent of GDP on top of PPPs,” Jain noted. There is no way that the government can escape from the need to raise the budget for infrastructure development, according to the ADB official. “Because infrastructure requires a huge investment, and there is huge unmet infrastructure needs in the Philippines,” Jain added. — VS, GMA News