President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the state of the Philippines is “sound and is improving” and he expects to sustain the strong growth of the economy by continuing to build more and better infrastructures as well as work with Congress to pass legislation needed to create more jobs and attract large investments.
“One of the keys to continuing economic growth is infrastructure development. So we will build better and more. Our P8.3 trillion “Build Better and More” program is currently in progress and being vigorously implemented,” Marcos told the joint session of Congress during the annual State of the Nation Address.
Marcos pointed out that gross domestic product grew a record 7.6 percent in 2022, the fastest pace in 46 years despite the challenges posed by higher inflation.
He said of the 194 projects under the “Build Better and More” program, 123 are new infrastructure investments and eight in every 10 are roads, bridges, airports and other infrastructures intended to upgrade physical connectivity across the Philippine archipelago.
The other infrastructure projects involve water resources, agriculture, energy and digital connectivity.
“Our infrastructure spending will stay at 5 to 6 percent of our GDP,” said Marcos. “The underlying logic to our infrastructure development is economic efficiency. We are opening up all gateways to mobilize goods and services at less cost and in less time, and ultimately to drive the economy forward,” he added.
He identified various roads, airports, and bridges that have been completed and upgraded, and pointed out a railway development program that will cover over 1,000 kilometers—all intended to shorten travel time for passengers and transport period for goods.
In his SONA, Marcos identified several priority bills intended to help guide the economy to a faster growth track such as the road users tax, value-added tax on digital services, excise tax on single-use plastic, rationalization of the mining fiscal regime, amendment to anti-agricultural smuggling law, new government procurement measure, new government auditing code, ease of paying taxes, and the Philippine immigration act.
The Marcos administration will seek a budget of P5.768 trillion for 2024, up 9.5 percent from this year’s budget and equivalent to 21.8 percent of GDP. The budget is expected to be filed with Congress next month.
