Next six years to be "golden age" of Philippine construction: budget chief

The Philippines will increase its infrastructure spending for the next six years, which will be the "golden age" of construction, a senior government official said Wednesday.

Department of Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin Diokno said infrastructure spending will be raised to 7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte from current 5 percent.

"The next six years will be 'The Golden Age of Philippine construction' both public and private," he said in a speech at the general membership meeting of the Financial Executives of the Philippines.

For the next year, he said the government plans to spend close to 900 billion Pesos (19.11 billion U.S. dollars) for public infrastructure.

The Duterte administration will specifically pursue small, medium and large-scale projects that will be done in all regions, "both highly developed and lagging - simultaneously, not sequentially,"

The budget chief noted that for too long, public infrastructure has been neglected.

"As a result, the Philippine economy is deficient in all types of infrastructure - roads and bridges, ports and airports, railways and urban transit systems, irrigation systems and water systems. To address this, we will hike infrastructure spending from a low five percent to a high of seven percent of GDP," he said. Enditem