Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III. (PCOO photo) “The flow of state-generated funds into the real economy forms part of the multiyear Build, Build, Build program that should eventually cost more or less P9 trillion.”

Some P56 billion worth of funds find their way into the financial system every month as a result of the government’s ambitious infrastructure buildup program, a development helping make possible for the Philippines to continue to grow no matter the economic headwinds.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III pointed this out yesterday when he expressed optimism the Southeast Asian nation was on track towards continued growth approximating 7 percent in terms of the gross domestic product (GDP) this year.

The flow of state-generated funds into the real economy forms part of the multiyear Build, Build, Build program that should eventually cost more or less P9 trillion, he said.

According to Dominguez, that much money in the system was certain to create jobs, attract investments “and finally disperse growth to the countryside.”

He said that in the first five months this year alone, national government spending on infrastructure reached P281 billion, representing an increase of 42 percent over the same period last year.

This was on top of private sector construction and public sector projects financed through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).

“The Build, Build, Build program will drastically alter the Philippine economic landscape. It will create over a million jobs per year. It will bring our logistics backbone up to par in a region that is growing very dynamically,” Dominguez said.

He estimated 30 percent of the spending go to wages each month and infuse the economy with P17 billion in the form of additional income and purchasing power for workers apart from creating some 100,000 new jobs that spur economic activity in related sectors and other multiplier effects.

Dominguez said that combined with other reforms such as the long-due modernization of the tax system and improvements in the ease of doing business, the infrastructure buildup program should help reduce the poverty incidence by a third of the 2015 level of 21.6 percent to just 14 percent by 2022.

“This will be the absolute measure of success of our strategy of inclusive growth. This is the goal that has been set for us by President Duterte, and this is how we are implementing it,” he said. “We fully aspire to be the fastest growing economy in the fastest growing region in the world. This will not be an easy task to accomplish. But we are ready to meet the challenges, driven by the optimism of our people, the confidence of our development partners, and the leadership of President Duterte.”

However, some analysts noted several headwinds that could hamper the government’s 7 percent GDP growth target, citing the spiraling inflation, the rising interest rates and the weak peso.

These economic spoilers could limit the domestic economy’s growth range to only between 6.5 percent and 6.9 percent, one analyst said.

On Tuesday, credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings expressed confidence that a 6.5 percent or higher GDP growth over the next few years was “very easily achievable” for the Philippines on the basis of the country’s economic policies.

S&P Asia Pacific Economist Vincent Conti bared this outlook and said, “And the reason for that is very favorable demographic trends that continue to benefit the Philippines, particularly providing a very mobile and effective labor force that has generated a lot of investments and consumption onshore.”

Conti said economic policy in the Philippines “seems to be very stable” and expected to have continuity.

“A lot of positives from the economic policy as well. The ramping up of infra program is one of the relatively newer additions to the policy toolkit and that’s actually a positive in that it can generate even further potential growth farther into the future,” he said.

Dominguez led the administration’s Build, Build, Build team comprised of Secretaries Ernesto Pernia of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Mark Villar of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Arthur Tugade of the Department of Transportation (DoTr), and Vivencio Dizon, president and CEO of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) along with MTD Clark Inc. chairman Isaac David and president Nicholas David to showcase “the progress of the infrastructure program as it is actually unfolding on the ground.”