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By Maricel E. Burgonio, Reporter
EXPECT the Philippines to enjoy
no budget surpluses for the next three years, after the Development
and Budget Coordinating Committee (DBCC) decided to keep the
spending bill for those years flat.
Budget Undersecretary Laura
Pascua said the inter-agency body’s decision to keep a flat budget
from 2008 through 2010 is aimed at reducing the government’s debt
while supporting economic growth via investments in infrastructure.
Pascua said the DBCC committed to
achieve a budget surplus while increasing infrastructure spending as
a percentage of the domestic economy from the current three percent
to four percent in 2010.
For this year, the government is
likely to incur a budget deficit of P63 billion. It originally
forecast surpluses of P12 billion and P17 billion in 2009 and 2010,
respectively.
Dennis Arroyo, National Economic
and Development Authority director for planning and policy, said the
DBCC will review its macroeconomic targets and assumptions for the
three-year period to take into account developments on several
fronts, including revenues, oil prices, capital outlays, and
interest rates. “We’re keeping our targets based on [the]
Medium-Term Development Plan,” he said.
But the DBCC has come up with new
growth forecasts for the three-year period in light of high oil
prices, he added.
Under the medium-term plan, the
Philippine economy is set to grow at 6.8 percent to 7.8 percent in
2008, and at 7 percent to 8 percent in 2009 and 2010.
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