COVID-19 response
10 things about the economy that the Duterte administration should admit
April 4, 2022
At its economic briefing, the Duterte government will likely hype growth, claim successful COVID response and play up so-called reforms. All this seeks to distract from how social and economic development has been set back by the administration even before the pandemic.
Gov’t, not pandemic, caused record deficits and debt – IBON
March 5, 2022
Had the Php5.3 trillion gross borrowings in 2020 and 2021 been spent on ayuda and producer subsidies, and less on infrastructure and debt servicing, economic rebound would have been bigger, revenues would have recovered faster, and there would have been less need for borrowing.
Record debt not due to COVID-19 response
March 5, 2022
The Duterte administration did not change its priorities despite urgent pandemic needs and, if anything, only used COVID-19 response to cover up massive borrowings for continued debt servicing and infrastructure.
Yearstarter 2022: Out with the old, seeking the new
February 5, 2022
The next administration will not only have to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of the Duterte administration’s COVID-19 response. It will also have to fix many things going wrong with the economy even before the pandemic hit.
Debt benefits
January 22, 2022
The national government deficit and debt are historically large amounts and so easy to raise alarms about. But if current borrowing is used productively, this debt burden is actually not necessarily unmanageable.
BBB: Farce multiplier
January 19, 2022
The real question is what balance to strike between universal social protection and infrastructure. The disproportionate attention to urban-centric transport infrastructure of the Build Build Build program is clearly a problem.
Scar-crossed Labors
January 17, 2022
We will likely hear claims of strong economic performance, early recovery, and returning to a path of rapid and inclusive growth. But labor force and poverty figures for 2021 already show how any claims like that will just be bluster or, worse, blind to the daily experience of millions of Filipinos.
Yearstarter: Seeking better normal in 2022
January 14, 2022
The administration that is exiting and the new one entering can take a more rational and humane approach to recovering and reforming the economy.
