As the government continues to borrow and send the public debt-to-GDP ratio climbing to a 16-year high of 60.5 percent, exceeding the 60-percent threshold deemed manageable, the nation must brace for higher/new taxes to pay the loans and finance development. For the pandemic alone, the Philippines borrowed $2 billion (over P102 billion) from three multilateral banks last year, aside from other loans from its bilateral partners Japan and South Korea for the vaccination rollout. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the rise in the debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio, which reflects the…

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