Dominguez: WB, IMF must tackle global trade concerns
THE Philippines has urged the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to lead discussions on trade concerns that could spur a global recession, the Finance department said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the department said the country was deeply concerned over the consequences of an escalating trade spat between the United States and China, and rising crude prices and interest rates, as these could curtail Philippine growth, as well as choke the flow of investments necessary to sustain economic expansion.
“We call on the IMF and the WB to highlight the perils posed by this convergence. If present trends continue, all the work we have put in preparing our economies for competitive trade, improving our domestic efficiency and maintaining the highest standards for fiscal discipline will fail to ensure inclusive growth,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd was quoted as having said during the recently concluded IMF-WB annual meeting in Bali, Indonesia.
The US-China trade spat will lead to a global slowdown and dent emerging economies such as the Philippines, he added.
“An open global trading regime is the only guarantee for sustained and inclusive growth. We are deeply concerned over the effects of the trade war on our own prospects
for growth and equitable development,” Dominguez said.
Interest rate hikes being implemented by developing economies, meanwhile, will also affect emerging economies by draining investments and forcing currency depreciations
Lastly, the rise in crude oil prices, which has stoked consumer price growth, is limiting emerging economies’ capacity to grow.
Dominguez said the Philippines, on its own, was taking steps to meet rising challenges.
“As the Philippines shifts to investment-led growth, we expect to bring down the poverty rate dramatically over the next few years. We are confident that the wave of technological changes we now see, disruptive as it may sometimes be, will be beneficial to our economic emergence over the longer term,” he said.
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