Belmonte urges sustained efforts to grow economy

MANILA, Philippines -The country’s steady growth should not be taken lightly as the global economic giants continue to grapple with recession, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. warned during a recent business forum.

“Recession sweeps many parts of the world, including Europe. Tentative growth appears to be the best news from large economies like China, India, and Brazil. Against this backdrop, our country’s strong economic performance is not a small feat,” Belmonte told members of the Wallace Business Forum held last week.

Belmonte is gratified by the business sector’s continued support for determined efforts of government to pursue institutional reforms that allowed the 15th Congress to pass historic and game-changing laws.

“With your support, we in Congress have once again earned the trust and confidence of our people,” the Speaker said as he anticipates that the 16th Congress could equal or even surpass the feat of the previous Congress.

He cited the overhaul of the appropriations process, creating the “habit of promptly enacting transparent and responsive national budgets, the first ever Reproductive Health Law and the Sin Tax Law which for about 15 years languished in the dust bin of the legislative process.

Buoyed by the positive prognosis of the country’s continued economic growth by international development institutions, Belmonte noted the steady improvement in the nation’s competitiveness rankings, jumping 22 notches since 2009.

Even as the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 7.8 percent in the first quarter of 2013, erasing the image of the Philippines as the “sick man of Asia,” Belmonte stressed “more has yet to be done.”

“Our growth rate has even outpaced the rest of Asia. With all these positive developments, we can never be complacent.  The work is not yet done,” he said.

To attain sustained growth, he cited the need to extricate the economy from being a consumption-driven system to that of production-driven or dynamically mobilized by investments.

“These investments need to be sustainable, industry-expanding, and job creating,” he said adding that the country still has the lowest investment-to-GDP ratio and the lowest share of foreign direct investments among its regional peers.

To create an environment that is conducive to investments, Belmonte said, “we need to maintain macroeconomic stability, while pursuing structural reforms that reduce risks and increase returns on investments.”

One vital reform avenue the government is pursuing is the adoption of a prudent fiscal policy to enable it to contain its budget deficit and reduce its outstanding debt, he said.

“Together with the effective management of our monetary aggregates by the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas, we kept our inflation rates low, built up healthy foreign exchange reserves, and stabilized our exchange rate,” he said.

He also cited the proposed 2014 P2.268-trillion national spending bill now being deliberated by the House as one vital measure that complies with the same basic tenet of promoting macroeconomic stability and productive capacity through investment in human capital formation and economic infrastructure.

“The overarching truth that will thread together all reforms is—and will always be—good governance. Unwavering and staunchly committed leadership will win the day,” Belmonte said.