• Philippine Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno warns that suspending value-added tax and excise tax on petroleum products would result in revenue losses that could hit 280.5b pesos annually.
• “Any of the proposals will adversely affect our economic and fiscal recovery, our international credit ratings, and our overall debt management strategy, while benefiting primarily the rich and without providing lasting inflation relief,” Diokno says in a statement
• For 4Q alone, projected revenue losses are about 72.6b pesos, he says
• For 2024, budget deficit could increase to 6.2% of GDP from earlier projected 5.1%, while debt-to-GDP ratio may rise to 61.3% from 60.2%