MANILA, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President-elect Benigno Simeon Aquino III needs to narrow the huge fiscal deficit if he wants to fulfill his campaign promise of eradicating poverty.

"Part of the reason why the widening deficit is such a big concern is that it's tied to other bigger issues" such as poverty and unemployment, said Luz Lorenzo, regional economist at the ATR Kim Eng Securities.

Outgoing Finance Secretary Margarito Teves earlier warned that the budget deficit in 2011 could rise from the current 3.3 percent to as high as 4.4 percent of the county's GDP, if Aquino won't consider imposing new taxes under his administration.

Aquino, however, is not too keen on raising taxes. In various media interviews, the President-elect noted that he will rather plug the leakages in the tax system instead of imposing new taxes.