BY PRINCE GOLEZ
Manila Reporter
MANILA – Malacañang dismissed criticism that the poverty rate remains high despite the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.
“Our present situation is definitely nowhere near the first half of the 1980s, when the economy was contracting,” said Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.
Back then, Lacierda said, inflation and interest rates were “double digits” and that foreign investors avoided the country.
The current inflation rate “is at less than five percent,” he said.
The country has also earned investment grade ratings.
“The peso is stable. None of the symptoms of an economic crisis is present here right now,” said Lacierda.
He also boasted that business confidence in the Philippines “has risen dramatically.”
Lacierda also clarified the government is not only dependent on the CCT to reduce poverty.
“We’ve got the sustainable livelihood program (and) the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Service,” said Lacierda.
While he admitted that the country has yet to solve the problem of poverty, he said the CCT program has helped the poor by raising their incomes by 12.6 percent.
He also cited the Annual Poverty Indicators Survey showing that the country’s poverty rate has decreased from 27 percent to 24 percent.
“CCT provides its beneficiaries employment opportunities and micro-enterprise opportunities. We give them capacity building for starting a business,” said Lacierda./PN
