简体中文
By APD writer Melo M. Acuña
MANILA, Apr.17 (APD) -- Leading government economic officials headed by Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno discussed the country’s economic and infrastructural reforms before a high-level audience at the “Philippine Day Forum,” held as a side event of the IMF-World Bank meetings in Washington, D.C. Thursday, April 11.
In a statement, the Department of Finance’s Investor Relations Office said about 150 key executives from top US banking, investment, and financial companies were present at the event with the theme “Powering Progress through Transformative Reforms.”
“Today, the Philippines is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Reaching this milestone, is attributable to many years of hard work, especially in building a strong fiscal position and a bureaucracy honed to the task of catalyzing growth,” Secretary Dominguez said.
He explained while the Philippines ranks among the best performing economies, “growth is not the final goal of all our efforts.” He said the country seeks a more dynamic and competitive economy to bring down poverty rates and create more opportunities for its people.
“The economic team stands by its goal of bringing down poverty incidence from 21.6 percent in 2015 to just 14 percent by the end of President Duterte’s term (in 2022),” he said.
The economic managers highlighted the country’s economy’s resilience to external headwinds and capacity to sustain robust economic growth.
“We are prepared to face the three great challenges, growth divergence, policy fragmentation and technological disruption. For the Central Bank, it is a matter of careful commitment and timely action. The economy itself is fundamentally solid and overall macroeconomic conditions provide sound basis for cautious optimism,” BSP Governor Diokno said.
Dr. Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank’s Vice President for East Asia and Pacific confirmed the statements of Messrs. Dominguez and Diokno during her opening remarks.
“The Philippines has the potential to become the next East Asian success story,” Dr. Kwakwa said. She added the country’s vision to “become a prosperous, resilient, middle-class society free of poverty by 2040, is an achievable goal.” However, she emphasized such would require continued reform and investment to open the economy, overcome infrastructure backlog, investment in human capital as well as building the resilience of the nation, especially the increasing threats brought by climate change.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
