Former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay said that if the government wants to help Filipinos save money and be less of a burden to them, it should reduce its budget and lower taxes across the board.
Hilbay also said the government should remove unnecessary institutions and offices and cut down on regulations.
Doing all these will allow Filipinos to save or consume and pave the way for them to set up businesses and create jobs, Hilbay said in a Facebook post.
In turn, the economy will be able to breathe, he added.
He also said that if the government operates on a reduced budget, inflation would go down and there would also be “a smaller pot for illicit activities.”
Hilbay said this is not being done because there is no political incentive to save.
Another stumbling block he mentioned is the “perverse economic theory” that deficit spending and monetary debasement are good for the economy.
He also blamed the misaligned incentives of policymakers who do not suffer consequences of wrong decisions, while taxpayers pay for the errors.