Purisima urges financial services industry to help in rebuilding efforts

MANILA, Philippines - Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima has called on the local financial services industry as well as the country’s businessmen  to help the government in its efforts to speed up the economic recovery of the storm-ravaged areas in the Visayas.

During the Bureau of Treasury’s launch of the treasury single account (TSA) Monday, Purisima said the banking community should come up with a package that will make it easier for business establishments and millions of Filipinos affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda to rise above crisis.

Purisima said government would meet with bilateral and multilateral institutions today (Thursday) in preparation for a formal pledging session that aims to raise much-needed funds to rebuild Eastern Visayas.

“We’re meeting with our partners to gauge what kind of support we can expect from them.  This will allow them to go back to their head offices or their home countries to have an idea what our plans are and what kind of support we need,” he said.

Purisima said the National Economic and Development Authority is putting the final touches on a master plan for the massive rehabilitation of the calamity-stricken areas.

This includes the reconstruction cost, which according to government officials, should be more than the combined $1 billion loans offered by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Yolanda barreled through most of the Visayas, causing large-scale destruction, killing thousands of people and destroying homes, major infrastructure, farmland and businesses that accounted for 2.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, according to a report released by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

That led J.P. Morgan to downgrade growth estimates for the Philippine economy to 6.9 percent from 7.1 percent following the devastation caused by the most powerful storm to have hit the country.

The Eastern Visayas, which counts for 12.5 percent of the national output, produces 11 percent of the country’s coconut output and six percent of its rice production.