Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has imposed additional 10 percent tariffs on imported crude oil and refined petroleum products to fund his administration's efforts to combat the COVID-19 epidemic, a government document released on Monday showed.
In an executive order dated May 2, Duterte said "there is an urgent need to augment the government resources to sufficiently finance the programs and measures to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 situation, and launch the country towards recovery and rehabilitation."
The additional tariffs are on top of the existing Most Favored Nation import duties, the executive order said.
The Philippines typically imposes up to 3 percent tariffs on imported crude oil and refined petroleum products, the government data showed
The Southeast Asian country now has 9,485 COVID-19 cases, including 623 deaths and 1,315 recoveries.
Several provinces and autonomous regions in the Philippines' main island of Luzon, central and southern Philippines have been placed under lockdown due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
Editor:Cherie
