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Tuesday July 10, 2012

Philippines plans record infrastructure budget for 2013


MANILA: The Philippines plans to spend a record 404.6 billion pesos (US$9.6bil) on infrastructure next year as it aims to push its growth rate to 8% in subsequent years, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said on Monday.

The South-East Asian economy could see growth accelerate to the highest levels since democracy was restored in 1986, he said, supported by higher state spending, strong domestic demand, remittances and other factors.

Abad said it is possible growth could be 78 % in 2015 and 7.58.5 % in 2016.

He told reporters that the budget for next year would include infrastructure spending that's more than 19% above the 339.3 billion pesos allocated for it in this year's budget.

With the increased infrastructure spending, “you can imagine the impact on employment, on reducing costs of doing business as well as expanding opportunities for the private sector,” Abad said.

The government does not plan new taxes in 2013, but is forecasting that its overall revenue will increase 14.1% from this year's level.

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