FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the larger budget deficit of P353.4 billion in 2016 will result in an inclusive and strong economic growth for the country.
Dominguez said in a statement Friday although the deficit last year was higher than P121.7 billion a year ago, it was well within the Duterte administration’s target of 2.7 percent of the gross domestic product.
He said it was also in keeping with a commitment to start spending big on three priority areas to sustain high growth, attract investments and create jobs, accelerate poverty reduction and transform the Philippines into an upper middle-income economy by 2022.
Dominguez said that Malacañang’s decision to ramp up public spending had helped the economy sustain the growth momentum in the second semester of 2016.