Liza Reyes, ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-social"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OFqsANoAym0" width="600"></iframe></figure><h3>Eyes higher deficit of 3% of GDP to boost spending</h3>MANILA - The incoming head of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s economic team believes current growth assumptions are &quot;too high&quot; and needs a more realistic target.&quot;Our view is that the forecasts were a little bit high to begin with. The worldwide economy is certainly not doing gangbusters and we have to be more realistic with our target settings and with our assumptions,&quot; incoming Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said in his first live TV interview after Duterte&#x27;s victory, on ANC, Friday.The Philippine economy grew 6.9 percent in the first quarter, beating forecasts and outpacing China for the first time in nearly three decades, on the back of growing investments and robust industry and services sectors. It set a 6.8 - 7.8 percent growth target for 2016.But, Dominguez added, there is a need to ramp up spending, to realize further growth.&quot;They [Aquino gov&#x27;t] have a very restrictive goal of spending, of having a deficit of only 2% of GDP [Gross Domestic Product]. We believe that as a result of the good management over the last 12 years, we can actually improve and be a little more expansive and probably target more, say closer to a deficit of about 3% of GDP.&quot;On Wednesday, <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/06/01/16/economic-growth-may-be-slower-than-govt-forecast-diokno">incoming budget secretary</a> Benjamin Diokno said GDP could grow 6.2 percent this year with election and infrastructure spending expected to taper off in the second half. Incoming NEDA chief Ernesto Pernia, on the other hand, said full-year growth could be &quot;6.5, maybe 6.6 percent, in that neighborhood.&quot;Dominguez also said the Duterte administration does not intend to change the macro-economic policies of the Aquino government since the country has &quot;definitely progressed.&quot;He said the Aquino government built on the economic policies established by the Ramos and Arroyo administrations, and the new government will only tweak it to achieve &quot;inclusive growth.&quot;Dominguez, former agriculture secretary during the Cory Aquino government, said they would shift the focus of growth as mandated by the electorate.Duterte, running on a platform of &quot;pagbabago&quot; or change, won the presidential elections by a wide margin, defeating the administration bet, Mar Roxas, who ran on a platform of continuity.<div>ENOUGH FISCAL SPACE</div>Meantime, outgoing Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the incoming administration will have enough fiscal space to support a more expansionary fiscal policy stance.&quot;The Philippines has sufficiently freed itself from structural and fiscal constraints for the next administration to continue ramping up productive investments in infrastructure and social services for the medium-term horizon,&quot; Purisima said on Friday.Purisima&#x27;s statement followed remarks by economic officials of the Duterte administration about plans to ramp up spending particularly for infrastructure and agriculture, raise the budget deficit ceiling and borrow more to finance such undertakings.&quot;With the country hailed as the most upgraded investment-grade sovereign, the next administration is likewise in a position to tap the markets to finance aspirational growth requirements if needed,&quot; Purisima said.The Southeast Asian country went to the debt market in February to sell $2 billion worth of 25-year U.S. dollar bonds, which drew huge demand from investors. -- with a report from Reuters

MANILA - The incoming head of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte's economic team believes current growth assumptions are "too high" and needs a more realistic target.

Dominguez: Growth target too high, needs to be more realistic

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Dominguez: Growth target too high, needs to be more realistic

Liza Reyes,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 03, 2016 06:44 PM PHT

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Updated June 04, 2016 12:50 AM PHT

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Sonny Dominguez

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