North Coastal Road to help raise CV's competitiveness

The implementation of the Metro Cebu Development Project-North Coastal Road has already been included in the national government's plan to help raise the competitiveness of Central Visayas with the continuing investment in major infrastructure projects for this year.

Although the budget allocation was not specified, Department of Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, Jr. yesterday said that the fund is part of the P680-million budget for infrastructure projects in Cebu.

Aside from the North Coastal Road stretching from Mandaue City to Liloan town, other projects to be implemented this year are the Negros-Cebu Interconnection Uprating Project and the Palimpinon II Optimization Project for Central Visayas.

Andaya who spoke during the regional economic briefing in Cebu City yesterday said that the government's continued success in enhancing revenue collection and implementing responsible budget management will also allow it to increase investments in infrastructure and social services.

"Our declining deficit, lower interest payments and rising revenue collection will allow us to invest an additional P369 billion over the next four years to build new infrastructure and to improve social services such as education," Andaya said.

Department of Finance Secretary Margarito Teves has reported that the 2006 budget deficit reached half of the ceiling set for the year while deficit to GDP ratio fell to -1.0 percent from -2.7 percent in 2005.

"These are some of the many positive signs that our economic reforms are taking hold and that we are on track to meet our aggressive but achievable goal of a balanced budget by 2008," Teves said.

National Economic Development Authority regional director Marlene Catalina Rodriguez also highlighted the Central Visayas region's healthy economic performance in 2006 with growth rates in the industry and service sectors higher than the national average, and an 11.8 percent increase in tourist arrivals on account of a growing number of foreign visitors to the region.

"Improved business and consumer confidence in the regional economy has resulted in prospects for accelerated growth in the Central Visayas region. We expect the continued growth of the tourism and information and communications technology sectors to significantly benefit growth in other sectors such as retail trade, real estates and construction and transportation," she said.

Rodriguez also said: "As the national government promotes Central Philippines as the country's tourism center, we expect increased public and private investments on tourism infrastructure and facilities in the region. This coupled with significant infrastructure investments in areas such as port improvement, power, urban infrastructure, and water supply and sanitation, will contribute to strong regional economic performance in 2007 that will help sustain the national economic momentum." - Gregg M. Rubio