The government will stick to its target of a wider budget deficit even if Congress decides to pass a watered-down version of tax reforms deemed crucial for a massive infrastructure program. The House of Representatives has already passed its own version of the proposed Train Act, which is expected to generate revenues of P119.4 billion during the first year of implementation. It will also in part support massive investments in education, training, health care and other social services, the Finance department has said. The Duterte government raised the programmed deficit to GDP ceiling to 3 percent from 2 percent as it pledged to implement massive infrastructure projects under the “Build Build Build” program. The Budget department has said that the higher deficit cap and tax reforms would give the government an additional fiscal space of about P500 billion per year.

Source: Manila Times October 24, 2017 15:45 UTC