Next president to inherit Duterte’s economic reforms — Dominguez

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III on Wednesday said the next administration will inherit the Duterte administration’s economic reforms, including several liberalization measures aimed at aiding the economy’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“[W]e promise you that President [Rodrigo] Duterte’s economic team will persevere until the last hour of this administration. We are confident that we will leave public office with the basic groundwork for continued and rapid growth in place. The next president will inherit many hard-won reforms that will boost our economic resurgence,” Dominguez said in his remarks during the induction of officers and members of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).

Among the reforms spearheaded by the Duterte administration were the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP), the flagship “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure modernization, "sin" tax reform, rice tariffication, a national ID system and the Ease of Doing Business Law, according to the Finance chief.

Dominguez also cited the three economic liberalization bills recently approved by the Congress that aim to boost the competitiveness of industries, create more jobs, promote the affordability and quality of consumer goods, and accelerate growth.

These are the amendments to the Retail Trade Liberalization Act (RTLA), which has been enacted; and the respective amendments to the Foreign Investments Act (FIA) and Public Service Act (PSA), which are expected to be signed into law by the President.

“Let me emphasize that the Philippine economy faces exciting times ahead. We have risen from an economic downturn and opened the door to rapid expansion. Our enterprises are ready to compete with the best in the world. Our people are ready to work hard to progress,” the Finance chief said.

Dominguez earlier said the Department of Finance (DOF) was preparing its fiscal consolidation proposal, which will likely involve tax hikes to repay the country’s increasing debt.

He has also expressed willingness to sit down with all the presidential candidates to discuss how to manage the trillions of pesos in government debt that the next presidency will inherit from the Duterte administration.

The Philippine government ended the year 2021 with P11.73 trillion worth of debt, bringing the debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, or the amount of debt relative to the size of the economy, to 60.5%, slightly exceeding the internationally accepted sustainable threshold of 60%. — VBL, GMA News