Delivery men push wooden carts carrying water containers while crossing a very busy street in front of a public market in Tibungco, Davao City on Friday. Edge Davao
On Thursday, the Bureau of the Treasury reported the rise in the national government’s outstanding debt to record-high PHP13.517 trillion as of September 2022. Ricafort said with the rise in government debt since 2020 due mainly to the pandemic, the current government “may still need to further intensify tax revenue collections based on existing tax laws, come up with new taxes/tax reform measures, increase tax rates, among others, to further boost structural sources of government revenues.
He said the intensified tax collections from existing tax laws may not be enough and would inevitably require new tax/fiscal reform measures to curb additional borrowings by the government.