The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) expressed hope for a much improved Philippines’ year-end outlook due to good economic indicators as 2023 draws to a close.

“So, for the year, ang expectation namin is we will hit the low end of the target, if not close to it. So, iyong low end of the growth target is a six percent, so either a six or iyon nga—very close to that six percent,” NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon said in a news forum in Quezon City on the country’s economic prospects.

She explained, “(k)asi nakita namin maganda rin naman iyong employment number natin, iyon PMI, Purchasing Managers Index nakita namin na mataas pa rin naman siya. Ano po ito, kasi parang proxy indicator din namin ito sa galawan ng mga business. So, yeah, so we’re actually hopeful about 2023.”

The good thing about this year is that the country’s various sectors have started to recover from the pandemic, she said.

Among the important sectors that started to gain traction is tourism, which was hit hard by the pandemic, the NEDA official said.

“Ang kailangan na lang pong maibalik natin talaga iyong international tourism. Domestic tourism, nag-work po iyon ating holiday economics, kaya po mayroon tayo kahapon…So, iyon, ‘yung kailangan pa nating ibalik,” Edillon explained.

“And then, nakita rin namin na with respect to government spending, so iyong second quarter was again… Kasi nakita namin may ano din ito, may parang may learning curved ‘no, marami kasing mga bago sa gobyerno. Nakita naman natin na third quarter, nakapag-catch up din. So, we are actually hopeful for the rest of the year, but specially going forward,” Edillon said. PND