Tags: taxes

By BULATLAT Manila — The new administration is challenged to put forward pro-people initiatives to address the fiscal crisis, but front-running presidential candidate Sen. Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino has yet to take a strong progressive position on the country’s fiscal problems, said research group IBON. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), finance officials, creditors and private sector…

The Arroyo administration was able to log a P12.6-billion ($273.02 million at last year’s average exchange rate of $1:P46.15) budget surplus in the first 11 months of 2007, mainly through revenues generated from the privatization of government assets. But with not much left for the government to sell, new taxes and a budget deficit are…

Poor people cannot be blamed for not sharing the government’s euphoria over the 6.4 percent growth in the gross domestic product (GDP). After all, they cannot feel such growth, and a close scrutiny of the figures shows that the latest data on the local output only reflects the kind of economy the country has. By…