RP sees no need for IMF aid<\/p>\n
MANILA (AFP): Philippines President Gloria Arroyo has ruled
\nout seeking emergency assistance from the International Monetary
\nFund (IMF) at this time as the peso is stable, the presidential
\npalace said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
An IMF mission visited Manila last week and found out that \"we
\nare doing fine, we don't need financial support at the moment,\" a
\npalace statement quoted Arroyo as saying.<\/p>\n
The IMF \"usually comes in when you have a foreign exchange
\nproblem, but we don't,\" she said<\/p>\n
Manila forfeited the last tranche of a 1.4-billion-dollar loan
\nlast year as its budget deficit ballooned to 136 billion pesos
\n(US$2.83 billion), double the original target, amid a political
\ncrisis that led to the downfall of Arroyo's successor Joseph
\nEstrada.<\/p>\n
Arroyo has since said the deficit could reach a record 225
\nbillion pesos this year but that the government would try to
\nlimit it to 145 billion pesos through austerity measures and
\nincreased tax collection.<\/p>\n
Central Bank of the Philippines governor Rafael Buenaventura
\nsaid last week that the IMF mission warned the deficit could
\nswell to 177 billion pesos and urged the government to plug holes
\nin tax collection.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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