The implementation of the first package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law ensures the government of adequate revenue flows to support its aggressive pump-priming of the economy anchored on infrastructure and human capital development, according to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III.
As the Department of Finance (DOF) celebrates its 121st anniversary, the finance chief cited the implementation of the TRAIN and the inroads done in cutting red tape to improve ease of doing business as the agency’s top achievements in 2017.
“By the time we complete the tax-reform program, we should match the tax effort of the most effective governments in the region. Our government can provide the essentials of rapid growth, such as excellent infrastructure and cutting-edge programs that will improve the quality of our human capital,” Dominguez said.
He also traced the government’s exemplary fiscal and debt management to the highly successful bond floats in the global market marked by tight spreads, which underscored the strong confidence in the Philippine economy and the way it is being managed under the administration of President Duterte.
Dominguez said the implementation of the CTRP’s first package, which is the TRAIN, has enabled the bureaus of Internal Revenue and of Customs to significantly increase revenue collections.
He added that the DOF’s anti-red tape program “is moving at a good pace” and will soon lead to the “full interoperability of our agencies,” through the use of the latest information technologies.
Dominguez said the Philippines’s 10-year dollar-denominated global bonds in January that was given a tight spread of 37.8 basis points over the benchmark US Treasury bonds, and the high demand last month for its maiden Panda bond float that was rated “AAA” by China’s Lianhe Credit Rating Co. and fetched a spread of only 35 basis points over the benchmark “indicate confidence in our fiscal and debt management.”
“For all the gains we have made, I should thank my predecessors for the excellent job they did in maintaining fiscal discipline. I should, in particular, thank former Prime Minister Cesar Virata for setting the tone and leadership style for this department. We are building on the strong foundations they have set down,” Dominguez said during the DOF’s 121st anniversary celebration on Wednesday at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
He stressed that amid the DOF’s notable achievements, much work still needs to be done as the department has yet to seek this year the approval of the rest of the CTRP packages and further reach substantial progress in improving the ease of doing business and making the government more effective through the use of new digital technologies.
“Happily, every success means more work to be done. We will advance on many fronts. We will substantially improve on the ease of doing business.
We will make government more effective through the adoption of new digital technologies. We will seed small businesses to provide a stronger foundation for future growth. We will provide the strategic infrastructure needed to bring all our communities into the mainstream of national wealth creation,” he added.
Image credits: Roy Domingo