THE administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr is still on track to achieving upper middle-income economy status by 2025 despite the revision of the country’s economic target for 2024, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said on Thursday.
Balisacan told a press briefing in Malacañang that the adjustment will not affect the administration’s goal.
“No, because with the six to seven percent is quite a high growth that still fall within the realm of possibility for our entry to the upper middle income class to threshold of almost 4,500 US dollars in gross national income per capita,” Balisacan said when asked if the revision has an effect on economic targets.
Balisacan, who heads the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), pointed out that six to seven percent is still quite very respectable even in the context of the country’s economic history, noting that it will mean the available jobs will continue to be robustly provided.
The Philippines has reached low level of unemployment, or below five percent unemployment rate, which is low compared even to the standards of developed countries, the NEDA chief said, stressing the Marcos administration’s aim is not just the level of the employment, but the quality of employment.
“That’s why we are focusing on investments, getting investments on a massive scale, improving our infrastructures that investment will be profitable… you know, would come in,” Balisacan said.
“And therefore, even as we see unemployment numbers to continue to be low, the quality of the employment produced will provide more income opportunities for our people so that they will be able to get out… our fellow countrymen will move out of poverty as soon as possible,” he stated.
The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) revised the gross domestic product (GDP) growth target for 2024 to 6.0 to 7.0 percent from 6.5 to 7.5 percent.
The DBCC also adjusted the growth target for 2025 to 6.5 to 7.5 percent from 6.5 to 8.0 percent, and retained the targets of 6.5 to 8 percent for 2026 to 2028.
These growth targets will sustain the country’s position as one of the fastest growing emerging economies in the Asia Pacific Region, Balisacan said.
Moreover, at this phase of growth, the Philippines is still on track to reducing poverty incidence from 18 percent in 2021 to single digit level in 2028, he said.
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