(Eagle News)–The National Economic Development Authority is eyeing to achieve a 6.5 to 7.5 percent full-year GDP growth rate this year in a bid to ultimately elevate the Philippines to “upper-middle-income-country” status by 2025.
Based on World Bank data, the Philippines is currently classified as a lower middle-income country.
As of 2022, it had a gross national income per capita of USD3,950.
According to NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, the growth will be supported by “low and manageable inflation, a labor force with access to more and better jobs, a stronger fiscal position in the form of a lower deficit and debt as a share of gross domestic product, and an increasingly dynamic, innovative, and competitive economy.”
He said the government’s experience in the past year has led it to acknowledge the importance of further reinforcing its fiscal position to ensure a sustained rapid and inclusive growth in the years to come.
According to him, these include
expanding the country’s economic pie by attracting more investments that generate jobs, ensuring food security to temper inflation and keep prices affordable; urgently addressing growth fundamentals and improving access to quality education; building sustainable communities through infrastructure projects; and ensuring a responsive and accessible government through widespread digitalization.
“The Marcos administration remains steadfast in carrying out its transformation agenda as we expedite the approval of game-changing projects and ensure that all of the government’s programs and policies support our unified pursuit of a Bagong Pilipinas,” Balisacan said.
The NEDA Board has already presented to President Bongbong Marcos the Philippine Development Report 2023 (PDR 2023) following the launch of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 last year.
The PDR 2023 will be released to the public by the end of this month, according to the Presidential Communications Office.