Economic managers Monday vowed to continue working on the goal of putting in an inclusive and sustainable growth for the Philippines.
Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, in an interview by state television network PTV-4 after the third state of the nation address (SONA) of President Benigno Aquino III at the House of Representatives Monday, said the government will do everything to increase economic growth.
He said the domestic economy posted the highest growth in Southeast Asia and second after China in the first quarter this year at 6.4 percent despite a very challenging global environment.
“So we will continue to focus on what is necessary to make sure that we’ll be able to sustain our fiscal sustainability, macroeconomic stability, and external position strength,” he said.
Purisima, however, stressed that achieving inclusive and sustainable is not the sole responsibility of the government.
“We also need the private sector to help,” he added.
Relatively, Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said Aquino’s SONA is “a declaration of what more we can achieve” and not just a list of accomplishments.
In a statement, Abad said the Aquino administration “is committed to build on its gains so far in reducing poverty and in building an inclusive economy.”
“Through transparent, accountable and inclusive governance, we can slash poverty incidence to 16.6 percent and enable growth of as much as 8.5 percent annually by the end of President Aquino’s term,” he said.