Economy to grow faster in 2nd semester: Dominguez

Dominguez said in the first half of the year, the government’s revenue effort also improved by 1.47 percentage points to 17.12 percent, which is the highest first semester revenue effort ever achieved since 1946. (File Photo: Department of Finance:/Facebook)

MANILA — The Department of Finance (DOF) remains optimistic that the economy will grow faster in the year’s second half on the back of larger investment inflows and exports, higher infrastructure expenditures, and an improved revenue effort which posted a first-semester performance in 2018 that is the highest ever in the country’s tax history.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said in a statement on Wednesday, the economic numbers for the second semester of 2018 remain “very promising” and that the year’s second quarter GDP growth of 6.0 percent was a mere “exception that does not indicate a medium-term trend.”

The finance chief said at a weekly news forum that the inflation rate, which reached 5.7 percent in July but actually eased to 0.5 percent on a month-on-month basis, is expected to go down to the original forecast range of 4.0 to 4.5 percent (based on Development Budget Coordination Committee projections) by the end of the year.

“Domestic demand remains robust. Investment flows grew in the first half of this year. Our exports of goods and services recovered to a double-digit growth of 13 percent in the second quarter from 6.5 percent in the previous quarter,” Dominguez said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay held on Wednesday at the Café Adriatico in Malate, Manila.

In terms of expenditure, the government’s effort improved to 19.47 percent, which is the highest first semester expenditure effort since 2003, he noted.

Dominguez said in the first half of the year, the government’s revenue effort also improved by 1.47 percentage points to 17.12 percent, which is the highest first semester revenue effort ever achieved since 1946.

The tax effort of 15.23 percent is also the country’s highest first semester tax effort, said Dominguez in pointing out that this accomplishment is the result of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN) and tax administration improvements in the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and of Customs (BOC).

“Our tax effort is now at par with the best-managed economies in the region. It is a tax effort we can very well sustain, especially with the subsequent packages of the comprehensive tax reform program (CTRP) now being deliberated [by the Congress],” Dominguez said.