摘要：Three types of trade policy adjustments to deal with an unsustainable current account deficitare examined in this paper for their economywide income and equity effects, based on theresults of simulation experiments using a CGE model of the Philippine economy. Grossdomestic product (GDP) expectably decreases with import rationing and less markedly, withthe imposition of a general import surtax; by contrast, adjustment through the reduction oftariffs leads to a larger GDP. The latter result, however, is counterbalanced by a substantialloss in government income. With respect to the distribution of income gains (and losses),the additional market distortions and rent-seeking that accompany the implementation ofimport rationing heavily discriminate in favor of Metro Manila households, whose averageincome is the highest among the five household groups distinguished in the model. Movingto a general import surtax represents an improvement in that non-Metro Manila householdsare penalized less. However, these first two policy options are deemed inferior to tariffliberalization--which yields larger income benefits to small-farm and "other rural"households relative to the more affluent Metro Manila, other urban, and large-farmhouseholds
