RP sees no need for IMF aid

RP sees no need for IMF aid

MANILA (AFP): Philippines President Gloria Arroyo has ruled out seeking emergency assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at this time as the peso is stable, the presidential palace said on Sunday.

An IMF mission visited Manila last week and found out that "we are doing fine, we don't need financial support at the moment," a palace statement quoted Arroyo as saying.

The IMF "usually comes in when you have a foreign exchange problem, but we don't," she said

Manila forfeited the last tranche of a 1.4-billion-dollar loan last year as its budget deficit ballooned to 136 billion pesos (US$2.83 billion), double the original target, amid a political crisis that led to the downfall of Arroyo's successor Joseph Estrada.

Arroyo has since said the deficit could reach a record 225 billion pesos this year but that the government would try to limit it to 145 billion pesos through austerity measures and increased tax collection.

Central Bank of the Philippines governor Rafael Buenaventura said last week that the IMF mission warned the deficit could swell to 177 billion pesos and urged the government to plug holes in tax collection.