Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran
MANILA – A ranking Department of Finance (DOF) executive said the proposed Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy (ARISE) bill can be funded but not this year.
In a virtual economic briefing hosted by Security Bank Corporation (Security Bank) on Thursday, Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said the DOF can look for the needed revenues but not this time since the proposed measures need a huge budget.
“The (revenue) estimates for 2020 to 2022 have been very conservative. We know that we can look for efficiencies somewhere,” he said.
Among the keys to get the needed funds for the proposed measure include the more efficient tax collections, tax administration improvements, and electronic invoicing (e-invoicing).
The government targets to fully implement e-invoicing by 2022 to further improve tax collections and tax administration.
Beltran added that as much as the Finance department wants to fund ARISE, this will not happen this year because this measure will exceed the financing program set by economic managers.
The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading its version of the ARISE bill, which needs about PHP1.3-trillion budget.
The Senate’s version, in turn, requires about PHP140 billion.
Business groups support the said measure but Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III earlier cautioned legislators on the approval of stimulus measures that the government cannot finance or are unsustainable, as these will just push the government’s budget gap wider. (PNA)
