PHL strong enough to ‘weather’ economic storms, Dominguez claims

The government is not being “complacent” amid issues looming over the economy, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said Thursday, noting he is confident that the country will be able to “weather” these storms.

The Duterte administration has taken “aggressive” measures to tame domestic inflation and sustain the country’s growth momentum amid the US-China trade tensions and the oil price surge in the world market, he said a statement.

They have been addressing the issue of rising inflation as early as May, the DOF, said, citing the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) interest rate hikes.

Dominguez said non-monetary measures taken by the Executive Branch were to temper price increases as a result of food supply issues and soaring global oil prices.

“We are confident that we can weather the storms but we are not complacent,” Dominguez said. 

The US-China trade dispute would eventually have an “adverse” impact on the economy, but Dominguez claimed the Philippines is in a “very good position” to overcome the challenge.

The country is going to use domestic spending as a “countercyclical measure to sustain our growth, he said. “We are very confident that our ‘Build, Build, Build’ program is countercyclical and that we can afford it.” —Margaret Claire Layug/VDS, GMA News