Philippines seen to spend more on health infra due to COVID-19: Fitch Solutions

MANILA - The Philippines can reallocate funds to building healthcare infrastructure after the coronavirus pandemic exposed its "vulnerabilities," a Fitch Solutions analysts said Wednesday. 

President Rodrigo Duterte's P8 trillion "Build, Build, Build" program could see more health infrastructure projects. Roads and rails will still have bigger impacts on economic recovery, Fitch Solutions Infrastructure analyst James Su told ANC. 

"This [healthcare] is one area that we will probably see more spending over the short term and even middle term as the Philippines prepares itself for better pandemic response in the future and also to improve the overall healthcare situation,” Su said.

"If you want to boost the economy through infrastructure spending, you’ll be much better to spend on big projects such as roads and rails," he added.

The Build, Build, Build program will be an "important part" of the country's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, newly appointed socioeconomic planning chief Karl Kendrick Chua earlier said. 

• 'Build Build Build' to help restart Philippine economy: NEDA chief Chua