International Bank for Reconstruction and Development FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY CG200048 FROM: The ActingSecretary December28, 2000 Public Disclosure Authorized CONSULTATIVEGROUP MEETING FOR THE PHILIPPINES Chairman'sReport on the Proceedin!s 1. Attachedis the Chairman'sReport on the Proceedingsof the ConsultativeGroup Meetingfor the Philippinesheld on June 19-20,2000 in TagaytayCity, Philippines. 2. The meetingwas chairedfor the first timeby the PhilippineGovernment, represented by the Departmentof Finance;hence, the reportwas preparedby the Departnentof Finance. Distribution For Information Public Disclosure Authorized ExecutiveDirectors for: CountryOffice, Manila Australia Malaysia EuropeanOffice Austria Netherlands TokyoOffice Belgium New Zealand Canada Norway Denmark SaudiArabia Finland Singapore France Spain Kuwait Sweden Germany Switzerland Italy UnitedKingdom Japan UnitedStates Korea Public Disclosure Authorized ExecutiveDirector for the Philippines Vice President,Investment Operations, IFC Asian DevelopmentBank Chairman,DAC/OECD Conunissionof the EuropeanUnion Embassyof Brunei(Washington, D.C.) EuropeanInvestment Bank NordicDevelopment Fund IFAD InternationalMonetary Fund IslamicDevelopment Bank KuwaitFund for Arab EconomicDevelopment OPEC Fund Public Disclosure Authorized SaudiFund for Development UnitedNations Development Program This document has a restricted distributionand may be used by recipients only in the perfonnance of their official duties. Its contentsmay not otherwisebe disclosedwithout World Bank authorization. Summary Report of the Proceedings by the Chairman 2 3rd Consultative Group Meeting for the Philippines Tagaytay City, Philippines June 19-20, 2000 1 CONSULTATIVEGROUP MEETING FOR THE PHILIPPINES Tagaytay City, Philippines, June 19-20, 2000 Summary Report of the Proceedings by the Chairman 1. The twenty-third meeting of the Consultative Group (CG) for the Philippines was held on June 19-20, 2000 in Tagaytay City, Philippines under the chairmanship of the Philippine Department of Finance and co-chairmanship of the World Bank. It was the first time that the CG meeting was held in the Philippines, and chaired by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines. Participants from the Philippines included representatives from the Departments of Finance, Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, Budget and Management, Education Culture and Sports, Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, Health, Social Welfare and Development, and Transportation and Communications; National Economic and Development Authority; Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (central bank); Bureaus of Customs, Internal Revenue, and Treasury; Office of the President; representatives from the Economic Coordinating Council, House of Representatives and Senate of the Philippines; Development Academy of the Philippines; Development Bank of the Philippines; Land Bank of the Philippines; National Anti- Poverty Commission; Supreme Court of the Philippines; and a representative from the non- government organizations. 2. The donor community was represented by delegations from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The international organizations participating in the meeting included the Asian Development Bank, European Community, International Finance Corporation, International Fund for Agricultural Development, International Monetary Fund, Saudi Fund for Development, United Nations Agencies (UNDP, ILO/SEAPAT, UNFPA) and the World Bank. Please see "List of Participants" in Annex 1. 3. The theme for this year's CG meeting was "SustainingPoverty Reduction Through Growth and Other Supporting Policies" (see Agenda of the Meeting in Annex 2). The Philippine delegation presented the following main documents in the meeting: The Philippines: Accelerating Development, Sharing Growth; ConsolidatingEconomic Growth; Expanding the Capacities and Reach of Pro-Poor Services; Status and Prospectsfor Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation in the Philippines; and Embracing Governance Reforms in the Philippines: Promoting Competition, Accountability and Social Responsiveness. The Philippines also distributed The President's 1999 SocioEconomic Report, Sustaining Poverty Reduction Through Growth and Other Supporting Policies: A Progress Report, and Report on the 8th Annual ODA Portfolio Review. In addition, the World Bank distributed reports entitled Philippines Growth with Equity: The Remaining Agenda, and Combating Corruption in the 2 Philippines. The main statements by the Government and Donor representatives delivered during the meeting are in Annex 3, and other statements delivered by donor representatives are in Annex 4. Opening Session 4. The Chairman, Mr. Jose T. Pardo, Philippine Secretary of Finance, welcomed delegates to the meeting, and thanked the co-chairman, Mr. Vinay Bhargava, Country Director for the Philippines of the World Bank, for the World Bank's support in the preparations for this year's CG meeting. Secretary Pardo emphasized that while the Philippine economy continues to post respectable growth three years after the Asian crisis, the Government needed the support of the donor community in its socio-economic program which focuses on enhancement of basic services and economic opportunities, particularly in the rural areas. The meeting agenda covered economic development, poverty reduction and policies, structural and public sector reforms, and aid utilization. Secretary Pardo enjoined donors to express their views on these Government priorities. 5. In his opening remarks as co-chairman, Mr. Bhargava commended the Government for hosting the CG meeting, thus, taking a stronger leadership role in the aid coordination process, and for its responsiveness to suggestions from the last meeting. Mr. Bhargava pointed out four areas which he hoped would receive concrete suggestion during the meeting: (i) how to boost sagging investor confidence and accelerate GDP growth to 5-plus percent in the remaining years of the Medium Term Plan; (ii) how to make growth more equitable, particularly in Mindanao, through a focused development program; (iii) how to improve governance in the private and public sectors; and (iv) how to make better use of ongoing and new ODA commitments. Session 1: Recent Socio-Economic Developments, Achievements and Challenges 6. Secretary Pardo gave a presentation about the present state of economic development in the Philippines. He assured the donors that the Estrada administration was pursuing the economic reforms the Government had embarked on. The fundamentals of the Philippine economy remained strong, as seen by continued economic growth, low inflation and low interest rates. The budget deficit in 1999 reflected the efforts of Government to sustain the economy inspite of lower tax collections. Government spending was also within the expenditure target, inspite of the requirements arising from the Mindanao conflict. To enhance the country's long-term competitiveness, Government aimed for (i) a balanced budget by year 2003, (ii) continued banking reforms through the enactment of a new central banking act; (iii) privatization of certain Government assets; (iv) more foreign investments with the new Retail Trade Liberalization Act; (v) completion of legislation on the restructuring and privatizing of the power sector; (vi) reforms towards development of domestic capital markets; (vii) reforms in the grain sector aimed at food security and stable prices; (viii) building of a knowledge-based economy to keep up with technological advancement; and (ix) substantial progress in enterprise and farms credit policy. To increase investor confidence, the Government had created a high-level interagency task force to maintain peace and order in the country. For year 2000, Government targeted to achieve GNP and GDP growth of 4.5 to 5.5 percent, and 4 to 5 percent, respectively, an inflation rate of 5 to 6 3 percent, while keeping the 91-day T-bill rate at 9.5 to 10.5 percent, and the budget deficit at P62.5 billion or 1.8 percent of GNP. 7. In addition to Secretary Pardo's statement, a presentation was made by central bank Governor Rafael Buenaventura on monetary and external account performance of the Philippines. Governor Buenaventura highlighted the achievements of the Philippines in terms of strong export growth, which contributed to an impressive current account surplus and overall balance of payments position. The gross international reserves were at record levels, while total external debt of the country continued to be manageable, consisting mainly of medium-to-long term loans. The banking sector had sustained its soundness. Interest rates were kept consistent with requirements for growth, and the peso exchange rate versus the U.S. dollar had remained broadly stable. In terms of banking reforms, the General Banking Law was enacted to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory framework of the banking system. 8. Mr. Sean Nolan of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated the IMF's views on the Philippines' socio-economic development. Mr. Nolan observed the solid macroeconomic performance of the Philippines, and said that the weak business confidence in the country may undermine the benefits of recovery. The factors that affected investor sentiment included budget deficit, slow progress in implementing Government's structural reforms,