Marcos: Gov’t accelerating public spending to spur economic growth

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the government is accelerating public spending to support the economy, as the peso closed at P62.68 against the US dollar.

In a media interview in New Delhi, India, on Sunday, Marcos attributed the peso’s record low to inflation, which he said was triggered by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

READ: Peso skids to new low vs strong greenback

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“The peso to the dollar, it’s because of inflation, because of all the weaknesses that we are seeing. Unemployment went up. And that’s, again, because of lack of public spending. That’s the effect there,” he said.

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“So at least it’s something that we can do something about and are doing something about, which is the increase. We’re catching up. We will be, if you want to refer to it, we will be current in public spending in the next couple of months,” Marcos continued.

The President explained that infrastructure spending slowed after construction contracts underwent inspection and review.

“Although the releases were made to DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways] from the budget, DPWH wasn’t spending kasi walang bagong kontrata kasi tinitingnan lahat ng kontrata, eh madami-dami ‘yun. Na-delay ngayon. That’s what happened,” he explained.

The reviews also affected the usual bidding timeline for government projects, resulting in further delays in implementation, he said.

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“This time wala, walang nag-bid. Na-delay nang na-delay nang na-delay nang na-delay. That’s why public spending is now—but we are only, right now, we are maybe less than 10 percent below what we were year on year, if you look over all public spending,” Marcos said.

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Enough food supply

Marcos also assured Filipinos that the country has sufficient food supplies amid the continuing conflict in the Middle East.

“There are certain things that you cannot control, you have no influence over, such as the war in Iran and the volatility of the prices of oil. You can, however, do something about food,” he said.

“So, yun ang tinitiyak namin. That’s why in the past few days, marami kayong naririnig, sapat ang food supply dito sa atin sa Pilipinas,” he added.

(So, that’s what we’re making sure of. That’s why, over the past few days, you’ve been hearing that the food supply here in the Philippines is sufficient.)

Meanwhile, the stock of fertilizer remains sufficient, although prices are still higher than before. 

“Noong February 28, ‘yung unang attack, Marso talagang tumaas nang husto pero bumaba din,” he said.

(On February 28, during the first attack, it rose sharply in March, but it also went back down.)

“So, fertilizer, the supply and the price – the price is still higher than it was before. But there’s sufficient supply, and we’ll just have to pay the price, and if need be, we’ll subsidize that too,” Marcos said.

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(As for fertilizer, there is sufficient supply, although prices are still higher than they were before. We’ll just have to pay the higher price, and if necessary, we’ll subsidize it as well.) /jpv