Philippine economic managers retain 6-7% GDP growth forecast for 2023

The risks include those posed by El Nino and other natural disasters, global trade tensions and value chain disruptions, the country’s budget and management secretary Amenah Pangandaman, who also heads the inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), said in a briefing last week.

The Philippine economy grew by 6.4 per cent in the first quarter this year, faster than other developing and emerging economies, such as Indonesia, China and Vietnam.

"The DBCC is confident that the country can withstand these risks and achieve upper-middle-income status in the next two years through the implementation of near- and medium-term strategies, such as ensuring timely and adequate importation, providing preemptive measures to address El Niño, strengthening biosecurity, enhancing agricultural productivity, and pushing for legislative reforms including the Livestock, Poultry, and Dairy Competitiveness and Development Act, among others," she added.

National Economic and Development Authority secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government recognises that the current external environment is not yet as good as the government would like that to be.

"The forecast for the global environment is still on the downtrend and the performance of the [Philippine] economy in the first quarter is much more improved than what most of us anticipated," he was quoted as saying by a news agency.

Earlier actions to tame inflation are expected to affect economic growth for the rest of the year, he noted.

Inflation rate will return to the government's 2-4 per cent target range by 2024 and until 2028 as the government, through the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook, provides proactive measures to address the primary drivers of inflation, economic managers are confident.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)