Duterte plans wider Philippine deficit in fiscal reversal

Manila

THE incoming administration of Philippine President-elect Rodrigo Duterte signalled its willingness for looser fiscal policy and higher borrowing as it seeks to ramp up spending on infrastructure and cut taxes.

Ben Diokno, who will be Mr Duterte's budget secretary when the new government takes office on June 30, said a fiscal shortfall of 3 per cent of gross domestic product is a "comfortable deficit target". That would be the highest since 2010 and a departure from the more conservative approach adopted by Benigno Aquino, which resulted in the nation's first investment-grade credit ratings.