Malacañang has implemented several measures to shore up investors’ confidence in doing business in the Philippines, Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said in the wake of a recent survey on prevailing business sentiments in the Asian region.
“The government continues to take concrete steps to improve overall business confidence and address concerns of our businessmen through reforms in the granting of permits and licenses, and streamlining of government transactions,” Coloma said in reply to a query from the BusinessMirror.
The Palace official confirmed that government agencies have, likewise, adopted appropriate measures to “ease bottlenecks in the supply chain and improve government spending.”
He added that the Aquino administration was also moving to “maintain stability in key macroeconomic indicators that would spur growth in consumer spending.”
Coloma noted that these measures were already seen to have triggered positive result.
“In fact, in the International Finance Corp.’s 2014 Ease of Doing Business Survey, the Philippines showed the biggest improvement among the 189 economies surveyed when it jumped 30 notches to 108th from 138th in 2013,” the Palace official said.
Coloma also pointed out that in the latest Business Expectation Survey of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which surveyed 1,518 local firms, “business confidence among Philippine-based companies for the fourth quarter improved to 48.3 percent from a three-year low of 34.4 percent in the third quarter of this year.”
He explained that this could be attributed to “the expected rise in consumer demand, increased government spending and sustained growth in orders and projects.”