Rody aims for 7.8% annual growth rate

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The camp of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte yesterday bared an eight-point economic agenda the new administration intends to pursue in the next six years.

Duterte’s spokesman Peter Laviña said the incoming president will pursue an annual economic growth rate of 7.8 percent, or even higher, in the effort to significantly cut the prevailing poverty index in the country. 

“If we want to reduce the poverty rate, we need a higher growth,” Laviña said.

The projection of the incoming Duterte administration is within the perimeter of the Aquino government’s average annual economic growth pegged at six percent while this year’s target is placed at 6.8 to 7.8 percent, he said.

Former agriculture secretary Carlos Dominguez, a member of Duterte’s transition team, said their group has been encouraged by the positive reaction of the stock market following the elections.

“We are very encouraged by the reaction of the stock market to the election of (incoming) president Duterte. In the last three days, the stock market has gone up in value by five percent,” Dominguez told a media briefing.

Dominguez also cited the strengthening of the peso against the US dollar.

“The peso has strengthened. Incidentally, the increase in net foreign buying was an almost-record of P1.9 billion in stock market,” he said.

Dominguez said first in the agenda would be to continue and maintain the current macroeconomic policy under the Aquino administration.

Dominguez said the Duterte administration also intends to accelerate infrastructure spending by addressing bottlenecks in PPP program.

“We will ensure (Philippines’) attractiveness for foreign direct investments. We will follow the ‘ease of doing business’ model that Duterte instituted in Davao,” he said.

Dominguez explained a crime-free area such as what Duterte instituted in Davao would be an item of attraction in doing business in the Philippines.

He said the Duterte administration will also pursue a genuine agricultural development strategy by providing support services to small farmers to increase their productivity.

“We are going to focus on the two-thirds of the population who are poor and live in the rural areas. We are going to promote tourism in rural areas,” he added.