The administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is confident it will be able to bring down the poverty rate to nine percent by 2028.

According to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, this is achievable amid global headwinds and the challenges of faster inflation rate.

Balisacan, also chief of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), said the nine percent goal by 2028 will be accomplished by bringing growth to a higher level, enhancing the quality of growth through the creation of quality jobs and improving the social protection system, among others.

“But associated with that would be the generation of not just more jobs but higher quality jobs. And those two, growths and jobs and paying attention to social protection to address shocks like typhoons and crises… to enable us to achieve faster reduction of poverty from where it is today to single digit, at nine percent actually,” Balisacan said in a meeting in Malacañang.

This is part of the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 of the Marcos administration, which sets the government’s eight-point program and contains targets and actionable plans that will help the country pursue a greener economy and more sustainable, affordable and livable residential areas in the next six years.

The chief executive earlier noted the GDP displaying a rebound growth rate of 5.7-percent in 2021 and a 7.8-percent average growth rate for the first half of 2022.

Balisacan expressed confidence that there is a reason for optimism as the Philippines’ rapid growth recovery is firming up despite global headwinds. | PND