DOMINGUEZ VOWS TO PUSH FOR REFORMS

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said Thursday the Philippines is committed to continuing striking a “delicate balance” between providing substantial support to the economy and keeping its policy of long-term debt sustainability in its fight to defeat and recover from, the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking before senior executives of American and Philippine companies, Dominguez said the country’s solid financial footing over the past year despite the economic shock from the pandemic confirmed the correctness of the game-changing economic and fiscal reforms that President Duterte has put in place since he assumed office in 2016.

These reforms reinforced the Philippines’ overall macroeconomic stability and allowed the government to respond decisively to the global health crisis, Dominguez said.

“In this battle against COVID-19, we are committed to continue striking a delicate balance between providing substantial support to the economy and maintaining our policy of long-term debt sustainability,” Dominguez said during the virtual forum. With the rapid and adequate deployment of COVID-19 vaccines critical to the recovery of the global economy from the pandemic, Dominguez called for the just and equitable distribution of vaccine supplies for all countries.

“The Philippines strongly supports the statement of Mr. David Malpass, former US Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs and now the World Bank President, who underscored the importance of releasing COVID-19 vaccines from countries with excess supplies as soon as possible,” Dominguez said during the virtual forum.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of April 9, more than 700 million vaccine doses have been administered globally, but over 87 percent have gone to high-income or upper-middle-income countries, while low-income countries have received just 0.2 percent of the supply.

Dominguez told the participants at the forum that the government will continue to push and implement more reforms to restore the economy’s vigor, armed with the Duterte administration’s ample political will and capital that it is committed to using judiciously until the end of the President’s term.

“Even with the unprecedented crisis, the Duterte administration will continue to work hard until the last minute of its term to undertake the reforms we had set out to do in our zero-to-ten-point socioeconomic agenda,” Dominguez said during the virtual briefing on the Philippine economy for American and Filipino business leaders.

“We will make sure that these measures will be irreversible and will form the foundation of an inclusive, sustainable and investment-driven economy for the Filipino people,” Dominguez added.

The event, which was held via Zoom with the theme “Philippines-United States (PHL-US) at 75: Strengthening Ties through Sustainable Recovery,” was organized by the Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez in Washington DC.

Also present at the event were Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi; John Law, Chargé d’ Affaires of the US Embassy in the Philippines; David Marchick, Chief Operating Officer of the US International Development Finance Corporation; Gloria Steele, Acting Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID); Enoh Ebong, Acting Director of the US Trade and Development Agency; and Alexander Feldman, President and CEO of the US-ASEAN Business Council.

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