«Philippines lessons», or IMF and Philippines tax reform

The Philippines are known in history as the country which had the longest run of IMF programs: 23 programs were started in this country during 1962 – 2000. In spite of this, since 1960s the Philippines demonstrate the worst economic growth in the region. According to the Human Capital Index, that indicates quality of life and access to education and healthcare, in 2013 the Philippines ranked 177 out of 187 countries. At the same time the country experienced high level of unemployment and critically low tax revenues. Why the country is called ‘sick Asian’ and why low tax burden along with international loans did not push for economic development of the Philippines – read in our article.