New fiscal measures vs. rise in debt needed: economist

• Published date: 03 November 2022
• Publication title: Philippines News agency

New fiscal reform measures are needed to help address the rise in government liabilities, the recent of which are mostly due to pandemic-related financing, an economist said.

On Thursday, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported the rise in the national government's outstanding debt to record-high PHP13.517 trillion as of September 2022.

In a report, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort attributed the jump in government debt partly to the issuance of around PHP118 billion worth of United States dollar-denominated bonds and the impact of weakening of the local currency against the greenback.

Ricafort said with the rise in government debt since 2020 due mainly to the pandemic, the current government 'may still need to further intensify tax revenue collections based on existing tax laws, come up with new taxes/tax reform measures, increase tax rates, among others, to further boost structural sources of government revenues.'

He said new taxes such as those for digital transactions 'are based on principles of fairness.'

'New taxes and higher tax rates need to be fair, equitable, and progressive, especially targeted to those that can afford them or those from the higher income brackets or at least prevent adding burden to the poor, most vulnerable sectors, and/or those hit hard by the...