Roadshow plays up improvement in gov't finances

this story was taken from www.inq7money.net
URL: http://money.inq7.net/topstories/view_topstories.php?yyyy=2006&mon=03&dd=08&file=4

Roadshow plays up improvement in gov't finances
Posted: 2:45 AM | Mar. 08, 2006
Michelle V. Remo
Inquirer

ECONOMIC officials left for Singapore Tuesday for a three-day roadshow to woo foreign businessmen to invest in the Philippines.

The officials will make the government's improving finances as their key selling point, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said.

The roadshow followed the lifting last Friday of a state of national emergency that President Macapagal-Arroyo had declared exactly a week earlier to foil what it called a plot to topple her administration.

On Monday, the government announced that its budget deficit in January amounted to 15.4 billion, compared with the target maximum of P20.9 billion, with increased revenues and prudent spending.

The below-ceiling deficit kept the government on track of its goal of trimming down its full-year budget deficit to P125 billion from P146.5 billion in 2005. The government said the medium-term goal of a zero deficit in 2008 was within reach.

Teves said the roadshow would update potential investors on economic developments in the Philippines, including the status on government finances. He said it would also point out that the government's commitment to attain its economic targets would not be affected by any political disturbance.

Teves will do the roadshow with Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila and Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla of the central bank.

The road show in Singapore will be the second in a series aimed at attracting more investments to the Philippines. The first was held recently in Japan, from where economic officials reported commitments by several Japanese companies to invest in the Philippines. With INQ7.net

Copyright 2006 Inquirer and INQ7.net. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

copyright ©2006 INQ7money.net all rights reserved