Palace prefers affordable stimulus package

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PRESIDENTIAL spokesman Harry Roque yesterday said Malacañang prefers an economic stimulus package that it can afford rather than one that would force the country to borrow some more.

Roque issued the statement as he defended anew the decision of President Duterte not to certify as urgent the extension of the ‘Bayanihan Act to Heal as One” law.

In an interview with ANC’s Headstart, Roque said there were pending bills in Congress about extending the Bayanihan Act but these included a stimulus package that called for funds the government does not have.

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He said Malacanang wanted a bill that would extend the emergency powers of the President under the Bayanihan Law and provide a “stimulus package we can actually fund and that will not require too much borrowing.”

Roque said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said government can only afford a P140 billion stimulus program.

“The position of Secretary Dominguez is that it is better to have a very good credit rating so we can borrow cheaply, but that we should not borrow too much to finance the stimulus package. So the position of Secretary Dominguez is we should only offer stimulus that we can afford and right now that’s P140 billion,” he said.

The bills pending in Congress included a P1.3-trillion Accelerated Recovery and Investment Stimulus for the Economy of the Philippines (Arise) and a P1.5-trillion COVID-19 Unemployment Reduction and Economic Stimulus (Cures).

Malacanang had also previously thumbed down a proposal to seek a supplemental budget claiming that it would need new sources of revenue.

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