The government is banking on the P1.08 trillion worth of infrastructure projects that were approved by the Aquino administration to boost growth this year.
In a presentation on Wednesday, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said this covers 93 infrastructure projects, 58 of them already ongoing.
“There are good prospects this year for infrastructure development. A total of 93 projects, amounting to P1.08 trillion, or $24.31 billion, have been approved by the Neda [National Economic and Development Authority] Board under the Aquino administration—seven of which are completed projects, 58 are ongoing or under implementation, and 28 are for implementation,” Balisacan said.
The Neda chief said that the majority of the 93 projects, or around 53 projects, will be financed through official development assistance (ODA).
The majority, or 37, of these ODA-funded projects are already ongoing. The total cost of these projects amounts to P318 billion.
Seven ODA projects, worth P17.6 billion, have been completed; and nine projects, worth P47 billion, are for implementation.
Meanwhile, around 24 of the 93 infrastructure projects, worth P628 billion, will be financed through the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.
Nine of these projects, worth P193.3 billion, are already ongoing, while the remaining 14, worth P435 billion, are for implementation.
Around 17 projects will be funded through local financing. Twelve projects, worth P44.1 billion, are already ongoing; and five are for implementation, worth P23.9 billion.
“Notably, many PPP projects are already in their rollout stage. The government has already awarded contracts for nine Neda Board-approved PPP projects. We can say that we can expect the other 14 projects to eventually reach this stage, barring any major problem in the process,” Balisacan added.
Apart from these infrastructure projects, Balisacan said other sources of economic growth this year include the recovery of the US economy; the country’s hosting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in 2015; and the implementation of the Asean economic integration by year-end.
He added that other factors, such as the decline in global oil prices, the recent credit-rating upgrades received by the country, and, barring any delays, the passage of the Bangsamoro basic law, will boost economic growth this year.
These upside factors, Balisacan said, may be able to avert the negative effects of external risks, such as the normalization of the US monetary policy; the slowdown in large emerging economies, like China; the weakness in the euro area; and the recession in Japan.
Balisacan said the government is also bracing for the domestic downside risks this year, such as possible disasters, like typhoons and a prolonged El Niño; disruptions in the peace process; infrastructure delays; logistics bottlenecks; and thin power reserves.
“Our goal up to 2016 is to sustain, if not surpass, our growth performance in the past four years and achieve inclusive growth. We are positive that we can take advantage of [these] opportunities,” Balisacan said.
Balisacan also said the government aims to grow the economy by 7 percent to 8 percent this year and in 2016. This growth target will be sufficient in reducing unemployment to 6.6 percent by next year, from 7.1 percent in 2013, and underemployment to 17 percent next year, from 19.3 percent in 2013.
However, consistent with his earlier pronouncements, Balisacan said the country will not be able to meet its Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of halving poverty to 16.6 percent this year.
The MDG target is based on the estimate that poverty incidence in the country was pegged at 33 percent in 1991.
The government said it will only be able to reduce income poverty by 19 percent in 2016. In 2012 the government estimated that the poverty incidence slightly declined to 25.2 percent, from 26.3 percent in 2009.
source: Business Mirror
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