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MANILA - The Philippines is poised to meet its target to reduce poverty by the end of President Rodrigo Duterte's term in 2022 as his government rolls out a P8-trillion infrastructure program, an official of the Asian Development Bank said Wednesday.

Road projects, especially in the countryside, can help spur growth in small and medium enterprises, said ADB Director General for Southeast Asia Ramesh Subramaniam.

The ADB is hosting a meeting of finance ministers and central bank chiefs at its Manila headquarters starting Thursday.

"I have been in ADB Manila for the last 20 years and I have not seen a momentum on the government side for infrastructure development as we’ve seen in the last 2 years," Subramaniam told ANC.

"Given the efforts that the government has put in and the confidence of the nation to the Build, Build, Build program and how the key departments and the economic cluster are working together, we are very confident that the program is on a good foundation," he said.

The President's economic team hopes to bring down poverty incidence to 14 percent by the end of his term from the current 22 percent.

• Duterte aims to lift 1.5 million Filipinos from poverty every year

• 1.4 million Pinoys lifted from poverty in 2015, govt says