PH needs 9-10% growth to be ‘upper-middle income’

Gross domestic product should grow 9 percent to 10 percent annually for the Philippines to become an upper-middle income economy, which may be achieved if the proposed tax system reform is carried out, economist and lawmaker Joey Salceda said.

Describing the country’s current tax system as essentially “a subsidy to the rich,” the House Representative from Albay said implementation of the proposed Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) is the only way to make the system more equitable, given that the Philippines is not a socialist state but a democratic country.