New taxes ruled out amid record debt

THE GOVERNMENT will not introduce new tax proposals in the 20" Congress, Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said, reaffirming the administration's fiscal consolidation strategy despite record-high debt.

- By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio Reporter

Speaking with reporters after a Development Budget Coordination Committee briefing at the House of Representatives on Monday evening, Mr. Recto said the Marcos administration would instead focus on previously filed measures including an excise tax on single-use plastics and a tax amnesty program.

Asked whether the Department of Finance would back additional tax initiatives, Mr. Recto replied: “No.”

He also said the government was not considering increases in existing tax rates too.

“We only have the single-use plastics remaining, that’s number one,” he said. “Also possibly, a tax amnesty.”

Mr. Recto had earlier stressed that new revenue measures were unnecessary, pointing to what he described in April as the country’s “robust” fiscal position.

Government data showed the Philippines’ debt-to-gross domestic product ratio had risen to 63.1% as of end-June, its highest level since 2005. The figure remains above the 60% threshold that multilateral lenders view as manageable for developing economies.