Daily Tribune‘He also lauded the Philippines’ strong economic growth performance and assured Secretary Recto of the Bank’s continued support as the country advances towards becoming an upper-middle-income economy soon.’
Finance Secretary Ralph Recto (left) receives World Bank President Ajay Banga's full support on digitalizing the tax system. Banga said the multilateral lender will send a team to work with the Department of Finance in building a digital infrastructure to speed up government service.
Photograph courtesy of DoF
The World Bank (WB) is sending a crack financial digitalization team to help digitalize, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said.
Recto said the country has received full support from WB Group president Ajay Banga on his key priority to fully digitalize the country’s tax system.
The World Bank team will conduct a workshop and assist the Department of Finance in enhancing its digital infrastructure to improve tax payment and collection efficiency.
During a recent high-level meeting, Banga expressed willingness to assist the Philippines in its digitalization initiatives to boost revenue generation, underscoring its importance in fixing leakages.
He also emphasized the need to build a solid digital infrastructure for the long term, which involves creating a digital identity, a real-time payment structure, and a reliable document storage system for the government to get citizens on board and enhance the efficiency of public services.
In line with these objectives, the president broached a proposal to form a dedicated World Bank team to work with the government in planning and prioritizing digitalization strategies focusing on increasing revenues and long-term benefits.
Banga also expressed his commitment to supporting the government’s Build Better More infrastructure program and providing more advisory works on several public-private partnership (PPP) projects.
WB is also keen on promoting entrepreneurial opportunities for young people, particularly through entrepreneurial centers and through wider access to seed capital from venture firms.
Banga offered support for the agriculture sector while reducing emissions through technological practices.
A Country Partnership Framework (CPF) is being developed by WB for the Philippines.
Banga specifically commended the Philippines for not just being a strong partner of the WBG but for making the most of its CPF to drive real action and tangible outcomes.
He also lauded the Philippines’ strong economic growth performance and assured Secretary Recto of the Bank’s continued support as the country advances towards becoming an upper-middle-income economy soon.
As of December 2023, the WB’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the Philippines’ 3rd largest official development assistance partner, with a total ODA amounting to USD 8.20 billion.
