Arroyo's promise goes unfulfilled

President Arroyo took office in the Philippines with ambitious plans to increase revenues, curb corruption and cut the state deficit. But after two years in office little has been achieved on these fronts. Now pessimistic country analysts are making worrying comparisons between Asia's busiest s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Euromoney 2003-03, p.1
Main Author: Cockerill, Chris
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Budget deficits
Corruption
Credibility
Debt financing
Debt restructuring
Economic conditions
Economic development
Economic policy
Expenditures
GDP
Gross Domestic Product
Investments
Politics
Privatization
Sovereign debt
State elections
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Summary:President Arroyo took office in the Philippines with ambitious plans to increase revenues, curb corruption and cut the state deficit. But after two years in office little has been achieved on these fronts. Now pessimistic country analysts are making worrying comparisons between Asia's busiest sovereign borrower and Argentina. For all Arroyo's efforts, corruption is still endemic. Funds collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue are, as a percentage of GDP, at 14-year lows, struggling at around 14%. And last month, anti-money-laundering legislation, watered down by vested interests, was rejected by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force. If amendments are not received by FATF by March 15, damaging sanctions will be imposed on the Philippines that, among other things, will affect the $6 billion lifeline of remittances from expatriate Filipino workers.
ISSN:0014-2433