National Economic and Development Authority secretary Arsenio Balisacan said that the 7.2 percent growth required in the fourth quarter to meet the lower-end of the government’s full-year target range remains doable.
The government recently announced the economy grew 5.9 percent in third quarter, bringing the average growth rate for the first nine months of the year to 5.5 percent, which falls below the administration’s growth assumption of six to seven percent for the year.
“For us to achieve the lower end of the target range of six percent, we need to grow in the fourth quarter by at least 7.2 percent. Now is that doable? I think that yes, it’s still doable,” Balisacan said during the Philippine Economic Briefing held in San Francisco, California yesterday.
“There’s still much space for the acceleration of government spending which hounded the performance in the first half of the year, there’s still much space there. Inflation will continue to moderate. With nearly two-thirds of the economy dependent on domestic consumption, we can imagine the impact of inflation on the economy, and so with the continued moderation in the last quarter, (it) also comes with all these inflows associated with the long holidays, so we would expect (at least) six percent,” he added.
Over the medium-term, the administration is targeting a growth range of 6.5 to eight percent, while the goal is to keep inflation within the two to four percent range.
“With the ramping up of the implementation of the infrastructure program, including housing, which was not mentioned here, but we are ramping up a major program on housing and by our estimate that would add another one percentage point to the gross domestic product if we can get that rolling next year. I think the 6.5 to eight percent growth for the medium-term is very much within the possibilities,” Balisacan said.
Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno highlighted the Philippines’ proactive steps in navigating global challenges at the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Finance Ministers’ Meeting also held in San Francisco, November 12 to 13.
In his intervention, Diokno discussed how the Russian-Ukraine war has been disrupting supply chains and causing supply shortages, leading to elevated levels of inflation globally, including in the Philippines.
With this, he shared that the Philippines is taking steps through its Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook by introducing a package of comprehensive measures to effectively mitigate inflation across several fronts.
