MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Magandang umaga, Malacañang Press Corps, and welcome sa ating press briefing ngayong Huwebes, April 4.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. presided over the 16th full Cabinet meeting yesterday. One of the items discussed during the meeting was the review of the economic outlook for the country over the medium term.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas presented the inflation on monetary policies.

The Department of Finance reported on revenue collections and programs, while the Department of Budget and Management presented a revised medium-term fiscal program.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) presented the macro-economic targets approved by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) which the President and Cabinet members already confirmed.

At para magbigay ng karagdagang detalye sa mga napagkasunduan kahapon ukol dito, kasama natin ngayon si NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan. Good morning, Secretary Balisacan.

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Good morning, Daphne and members of the Malacañang Press Corps, ladies and gentlemen, good morning again.

Yesterday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. convened the 16th full Cabinet meeting to discuss among others, the economy’s outlook and policy initiatives in the medium term.

The President and the Cabinet confirmed the macro-economic targets approved by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) during its 187th meeting last March 22.

The revised targets for our headline indicators considered the country’s recent economic performance in fiscal year 2023 and reflect the latest developments and expectations on external factors such as global demand and trade growth, oil price movements and expected exchange rate and inflation trends.

The DBCC revised gross domestic product (GDP) growth target for 2024 is to 6.0 to 7.0 percent from six and half to seven and half percent.

The DBCC also revised the growth target for 2025 to six and half to seven and half percent from 6.5 to 8.0 percent, and retain the targets of six and half to eight percent for 2026 to 2028. Robust macro-economic fundamentals will support this growth trajectory.

These growth targets will sustain the country’s position as one of the fastest growing emerging economies in the Asia-Pacific Region. Moreover, at this pace of growth, we are still on track to achieving or to reducing poverty incidence from 18% in 2021 to single digit level in 2028.

The target range for inflation is retained at two to four percent for 2024 to 2028 following the government assessment of recent internal and external developments that impact the prices of major commodity groups. The inflation outlook considers the monetary policy actions the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is undertaking and the non-monetary strategies and measures the government is implementing.

The updated medium-term fiscal program (MTFP) provides a more gradual but practical fiscal trajectory for the next few years. The government will further improve its performance through enhanced tax administration reforms, focused on modernizing and enhancing the efficiency of the Philippine tax system.

We will complement these measures by walking with Congress to pass priority tax reform measures to recalibrate and further improve revenue mobilization and ultimately, be more attuned to the country’s fiscal requirements and current domestic developments. With these expected reforms, we project revenues to reach 4.27 trillion pesos or 16.1% of GDP in 2024, and rise to 6.078 trillion pesos or 16.4% of GDP by 2028.

We project deficit to GDP to fall from 5.6% in 2024 to 3.7% by 2028, leading to an expected debt-to-GDP ratio of 60.3% in 2024 and 55.9% by 2028.

Meanwhile, the government disbursement program shall remain at about 20% of GDP or an expected 5.7 trillion pesos in 2024, and 7.45 trillion pesos by 2028.

The DBCC proposes a national budget of 6.2 trillion pesos for fiscal year 2025, with spending to remain focused on delivering high-impact and transformative public infrastructure projects and essential social services especially for the poor and vulnerable.

The budget shall support the Marcos administration’s Build Better More Program to stay on course and maintain infrastructure spending between five to six percent of GDP from 2024 to 2028.

Meanwhile, the economic team identifies the following opportunities and risks: First, we continue to recognize and promote the crucial role of private sector investments in delivering public infrastructure and services, thereby alleviating the burden on the government’s limited fiscal space. The full implementation of economic liberalization, investment-related and business-friendly reforms and initiatives including the recently enacted Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Code and its accompanying implementing rules and regulations will pave the way for greater investor interest and activity in the Philippines.

We also expect the President’s aggressive investment and trade promotion initiatives to continue to bear fruits as more and more recognize the country’s promise as a destination of choice for businesses.

We anticipate that the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program will boost our mining and manufacturing sectors as we expect the demand for construction materials to increase.

We also expect the availability of more affordable housing units under the 4PH Program to stimulate the real estate sector contributing to creating dynamic and livable communities.

Also, our high growth forecast for the transport and digital sectors can be attributed to the force and impact of the Public Service Act and critical digital and physical connectivity or connectivity infrastructure in the years to come.

However, we also identified domestic and external risk on the horizon. Climate change and extreme natural disasters such as El Niño will continue to pose risk to food security and stability of food prices.

Additionally, risks related to inflation such as potential adjustments on transport fares, wages and service utility fees higher than expected could dampen household consumption.

On the external front, the global economic slowdown may weaken external demand while increasing geopolitical and trade tensions could disrupt supply chains.

Furthermore, general elections in major economies could lead to political shifts that may disrupt trade and investment.

For 2024, the economic team will strongly advocate for the enactment of much needed next generation reforms to further enable the transformation of our economy and ensure sustained and inclusive growth.

We are working hard with our partners in Congress to pass game changing laws across various sectors and we seek to make good on our promise of delivering the executive and legislative common legislative agenda.

Conclusion: The Marcos administration remains steadfast in its commitment to sustain the robust growth trajectory of the Philippine economy. The government’s dedication transcends meeting statistical targets or numerical benchmarks. We direct our efforts toward realizing strategic and compelling vision for our nation’s prosperity even as we navigate a global economic landscape marked by various challenges within and without.

Despite the anticipated risks, we remain optimistic about the country’s sustained growth momentum as we strive for better development outcomes. We aspire to position the Philippines as a frontrunner within our region and beyond – a beacon of inclusive progress and resilience. Therefore, let us forge ahead with purpose and pave the way for the realization of our country’s ambition of a matatag, maginhawa at panatag na buhay para sa lahat.

Thank you.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Thank you, Secretary Balisacan, for the very encouraging and optimistic report. Questions from the audience? Okay, Racquel Bayan, Radyo Pilipinas.

RACQUEL BAYAN/RADYO PILIPINAS: Good morning po, Secretary. May we know, sir, bakit po kaya in-adjust iyong GDP growth natin for this year, 2024 from 6.5% to 7% – ginawa po nating 6.0% to 7.0%?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Well, first as I mentioned earlier, to take account of the performance in the last fiscal year 2023; second, to recognize the recent developments in the global economy particularly trade and finance – we have seen there’s a continuing slowdown of the global economy – and also taking into account the uptick in oil prices and as well as the trends in the inflation, interest rates not just in the Philippines but also in other countries particularly our major trading partners like the US.

RACQUEL BAYAN/RADYO PILIPINAS: Sir, nakaapekto rin po ba dito sa adjustment na ito iyong naitala po nating 15-trillion peso na utang ng Pilipinas by February 2024?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: No, I think… let’s clarify ano. In absolute value, of course the debt is increasing to 15 – ilang trillion na ba iyan? – and yeah. But as a proportion of the size of the economy, that is falling and in our revision of the targets ‘no, we continue the earlier plan to get that debt as a proportion of GDP decreasing although we have to recast it in a way that is realistic and at the same time, sustainable ‘no. Because our aim is to allow the opportunities for the economy to grow on a sustained basis – and as you see, our economy will retain its position as one of the fastest growing economies.

The World Bank in fact just came out with a recent forecast for the Philippines and East Asian Pacific countries ‘no, and they see the Philippine economy as among the top fast performing economies, best performing economies in 2024 and 2025. And I think that with the programs that we are putting in place including appropriate use of fiscal and monetary policies, we should be able to sustain that so that despite the reduced growth for 2024, we’ll still be able to achieve the objective of reducing poverty to single digit level by 2028 as earlier planned.

RACQUEL BAYAN/RADYO PILIPINAS: Sir, lastly na lang po from my end. Despite all-time high po itong 15 trillion na naitala po natin sa February, can we say na under control pa rin po iyong debt natin?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Oh, yes obviously. Yeah, it is! We are actually in a very good position. The rule of thumb for emerging economies is 70% of GDP is there, that is the threshold ‘no. We are moving from 60% to a way below 60 to even lower ‘no, of 55 – almost about 56% by the time we end the term of the current President. So, we are not only way below the threshold but we also would want to decrease that further.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Maricel Halili, TV-5.

MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Hi. Sir, magandang umaga po. Sir, the adjustment on our GDP target for 2024, what does it mean for ordinary people? Paano po ito makakaapekto sa mga ordinaryong tao?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Well, not so much because the… you know, well let me start by saying that even though the range has been reduced from 6.5 to 7.5 to now 6 to 7 percent, that 6 to 7 percent is still quite very respectable even in the context of our history, economic history but also as I said earlier, in the context of our region ‘no, in the Asia-Pacific Region – that we still will remain one of the most fastest growing economy.

For our people, of course that will mean that the jobs that are available will continue to be robustly provided. As you can see, we have now reached a quite low level of unemployment ‘no – below 5% na unemployment rate natin ngayon. It’s actually low compared even to developed countries’ standards ‘no.

But what we are aiming at is not just the level of the employment, more importantly it’s the quality of the employment. That’s why we are focusing on investments ‘no, getting investments on a massive scale, improving our infrastructures that investment will be profitable, you know, would come in. And therefore, even as we see unemployment numbers to continue to be low, the quality of the employment produced will provide more income opportunities for our people ‘no so that they will be able to get out… you know, most of our fellow countrymen will move out of poverty as soon as possible.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Alvin Baltazar, Radyo Pilipinas…

ALVIN BALTAZAR/RADYO PILIPINAS: Secretary, magandang… hi, sir. Secretary, kahapon, in relation pa rin doon sa Cabinet meeting. Mukhang napag-usapan iyong problema sa traffic. Can you share with us kung ano iyong naging direktiba ni Pangulong Marcos? Since matindi rin naman ang tama sa ekonomiya ng traffic and based doon sa mga nakaraang pag-aaral, umaabot sa 3.5 billion per day iyong nawawala sa ekonomiya ng traffic. Anong directive ni Pangulo dito?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Yeah. So, we had a very long discussion on the traffic issue and the President gave instruction to everyone to submit their recommendations, how their respective offices will adjust and configure their work environment. But what the President really wants is a comprehensive, holistic approach to solving the traffic problem – hindi iyong piecemeal approach as has been the case all these years ‘no.

For example, in the planning of our transport system, we should be looking at intermodal transport system and see how they operate efficiently as a whole. We are building now the subway, we are building other expressways, bridges connecting Bataan and Cavite and so on. But these have to be seen in the context of all the other transport system including bike lanes, motorcycle lanes like that and as well as feeder roads and including the location of industries, residences and so on.

So the whole system, it cannot be just seen on a piecemeal basis. Kasi kung may chokepoint in one, it affects the whole system that’s why we really look at it as a system – and that’s the direction of the President.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Ivan Mayrina, GMA-7.

IVAN MAYRINA/GMA 7: Secretary, nabanggit ninyo po iyong mga opportunities and threats to economic growth, hindi ho ba nag-figure doon sa threats iyong current geopolitical tensions in the West China Sea?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Indeed, it does. It is, that’s why as I mentioned in all of those risks that we considered are examining the prospects for our economy in the medium term. And despite that, we feel that the growth trajectory should not be affected adversely, we have to adjust to these global geopolitical tensions – and that’s what every economy is doing and I think I don’t see that we are exempted to that.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Alexis Romero, Philippine Star.

ALEXIS ROMERO/PHILIPPINE STAR: Secretary, you mentioned you expect a lower GDP and deficit ratio. What gives you that optimism?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Well, its ability to number one, we understand what the problem is and first it has to do with the fiscal measures ‘no. As I said earlier, we are working to improve the tax collection efforts. Tax administration ‘no, there’s a lot of space for improving tax administration. As you can see, if you look at other countries, mababa iyong tax rates nila pero mataas ang koleksiyon; sa atin, mataas na iyong tax rates natin, mababa ang koleksiyon. So, there’s so much space for improving tax administration.

The second one of course is we have to identify new tax measure and we have identified these tax measures but we are quite realistic that we need to focus on things that can improve the tax administration as well as those low hanging fruits in new tax measures ‘no.

The other one is, as I said a country like us can address the debt problem if it’s able to achieve growth, to get its economy growing faster than its debt so that the debt ratio will fall. And that’s the objective ‘no, we need to make the economy more efficient, more effective and that’s why the issue of efficiently using those fiscal resources. You borrow, just like any responsible household, if they borrow they should not worry about that if they’re able to use it efficiently because the incomes that they can generate from that borrowing will generate more than what they pay for the debt, right. An economy should be like that and so as we are able to grow the economy at a much faster rate than the rate of our borrowing, we should be able to see that debt fully decreasing overtime as a proportional GDP.

ALEXIS ROMERO/PHILIPPINE STAR: But, Secretary, iyong iba doon, it’s based on the assumption na naka-hinge sa external developments like iyon sa Congress. So, you’re assuming that they will pass these fiscal measures?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Oh yeah. We now have a mechanism and we have been working quite closely with Congress through the Legislative-Executive Development [Advisory] Council. And in fact, just a couple of two weeks ago we met again to agree on the priority measures to ensure that and they will share, you know, Congress also passed a resolution at the beginning of the administration approving or confirming our fiscal measures including the targets for the debt and the fiscal measures ‘no.

So, we have that mechanism for working collaboratively in a smooth coordination between Congress and the Executive branch.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Kyle Atienza, BusinessWorld.

KYLE ATIENZA/BUSINESSWORLD: Good morning, sir. Sir, with the inflation expected to have weakened further in March BSP’s inflation forecast of [unclear] percent, the Central Bank is likely to remain hawkish. How do you ensure that this hawkishness does not affect growth? Also, sir, the food prices seem to be driving the CPI, what is the government doing to make sure prices of rice and other commodities again don’t spiral out of control? Also last, sir, last question – do you expect the BSP to quickly mirror potential US Fed cut next month or later this year? How crucial is this to economic growth?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Well, yeah. The government, and as I mentioned earlier, we are committed to achieving an inflation within that range of two to four percent, right. So, even as we saw the inflation picked up a bit last month, we don’t see that inflation going out of that bond. So, for sure we intend to keep that and work very hard, we’ll work very hard to address the non-monetary measures that are contributing to that pick or to that resurgence of inflation in recent months ‘no.

You’re right, the big part of that inflation is coming from food price increases and we know that part of that is due to the inefficiency on the market system and we have to work hard to reduce that inefficiency and our Department of Agriculture has proposed to the government, to the President, to the Cabinet a package of measures to improve the deficiency like for example – improving the logistics and distribution systems of investing, and bringing in the private sector to invest those logistics and distribution so that the differential between what the farmers receive for their produce and what consumers pay for food will not be as wide as it is now ‘no but that would be reduced and that would address inflation.

We are also monitoring closely the developments of the global food markets because for example for rice – a lot of that inflation in rice is coming from the fact that the global food prices have continued to increase although the expectation and the global forecast showed that with the weakening of El Niño by the middle of this year, we expect global rice prices to start declining and so it’s…I think looking at the rest of the year, we should be seeing those price pressures on our prices to moderate.

KYLE ATIENZA/BUSINESSWORLD: Sir, I’ll just repeat my last question – so, do you expect the BSP to quickly mirror potential US Fed cut later this year? And how crucial is this to economic growth?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: To continue what?

KYLE ATIENZA/BUSINESSWORLD: To quickly mirror, sir, a potential US Fed cut.

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: I’m sorry, I do not get that.

KYLE ATIENZA/BUSINESSWORLD: Recut, sir.

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Ah the cuts – the interest rates, the policy rates? Okay. Of course, the policy rates of the BSP are guided by many factors. The inflation is one, but there are also interest rate differentials say between US Fed and the Philippines and there are also the exchange rate movement – so, they adjust to that ‘no. but I think in recent months, a big part of the adjustments have to do with inflation ‘no.

So, as we moderate, as we manage that inflation within that bond of two to four percent for this year and the next years we don’t see that BSP will keep its policy rates. It will eventually go down as the numbers become more firm – I mean, the inflation numbers.

KYLE ATIENZA/BUSINESSWORLD: Thank you, sir.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Sam Medenilla, Business Mirror.

SAM MEDENILLA/BUSINESS MIRROR: Hi. Good morning, Sir Balisacan. What is the impact of the lower target on BIR and BOC collection performance for the year?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Yeah, well, it’s chicken and egg. The lower GDP growth will obviously affect the BIR and BOC collections. But on the other hand, as I was saying earlier, improving tax administration will be the bigger source of that increase in revenues.

The program as proposed and as approved and confirmed by our Cabinet, by the President, still shows a quite robust growth of tax revenues particularly those coming from BIR and the Bureau of Customs.

So, in other words, even with the slightly lower growth forecast, revenues from these two agencies are expected to rise, to increase.

SAM MEDENILLA/BUSINESS MIRROR: Sir, last question na lang po. How much of this decision to reduce targets is attributed to higher interest rates? Would we have a better chance of attaining our targets with lower key policy rates?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Of course, yeah, with the—but these policy rates have long effects ‘no. For example, the lower performance last year of the economy and expectedly lower performance this year from … as I mentioned earlier, earlier we’re forecasting or targeting six and a half to seven and a half percent; now, we have reduced that to six to seven percent. It’s partly due to that, that we still feel the high policy rates last year impacting the economy this year. And also, among the other factors that I mentioned earlier ‘no like the oil prices this year are expected to be higher than next year. So, yes, but again, if we achieve the target, the midrange of the six to seven, 6.5, that’s still almost as good as the earlier projection of having a growth of 6.5 to 7.5 last year.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay, Neil Jerome Morales from Reuters.

NEIL JEROME MORALES/REUTERS: Hi, Secretary. Good morning. Secretary, just to complete the data set you were mentioning kanina, the deficit. So can you share with us the deficit program for 2025 to 2027 and foreign exchange assumptions as well, that we have? Thank you.

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Okay. I think I have those numbers for you, yeah, yeah. For the deficit—all right, as I said earlier, let me go through the assumptions ‘no. As I said earlier, the inflation will be kept at two to four percent from 2024 to 2028. The Dubai crude oil price, we’re assuming 70 to 90 percent. It’s actually picking up as we speak. But next year, it is expected to settle down to a lower range.

The treasury bills, as I said, that is still affected by policy rates in the past, and so it is higher this year than next year.

The exchange rate, again, the range is higher this year from 55 to 57—or lower this year than what’s expected next year; 2025 is 55 to 58 ‘no.

The export, by the way, is also the one that caused that reduction in the target for this year. We expect the goods exports to decline from the original assumption of five percent to three percent this year. We kept the same assumption for other years.

Okay—where’s my number for the deficit. As I said earlier, for the deficit, we have the … I think by this time, the DBM should have released already the DBCC, the complete report. And there, you will see the numbers for each of the years and the deficit ‘no.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: All right, okay. Cathy Valente, Manila Times.

CATHERINE VALENTE/MANILA TIMES: Sir, good morning. Sir, since we revised our economic target for 2024, are we still on track po doon sa ating pag-achieve sa upper middle income economy status by 2025?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Yes, we are.

CATHERINE VALENTE/MANILA TIMES: So hindi ito, sir, makakaapekto doon sa ating goal?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: No, because with the six to seven percent is still quite a high growth that still fall within the realm of possibility for our entry to the upper middle income class; the threshold of almost 4,500 US dollars in gross national income per capita should be in there.

CATHERINE VALENTE/MANILA TIMES: Sir, iyong sa ano lang po, sa Tariff Commission. Sa EO, Executive Order 12 revision ng sa tariff para i-lower iyong tariff ng mga e-vehicles. Sabi po kahapon, natapos na iyong public hearings. May recommendation na po ba and ano po iyong—recommendation at sagot ng Pangulo?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: We haven’t received the recommendation yet. That would be transmitted to us and once we received that, the tariff committee on related matters will meet – that’s composed of the NEDA, DTI and other agencies ‘no. And then from there, we will, depending on the decision there, we will forward it to the President and the Cabinet, the NEDA Board for confirmation.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Mikhail Flores, Reuters.

MIKHAIL REUTERS/REUTERS: Sir, if you look at the World Bank’s latest projections, they’re both below the government’s target – it is 5.8 I think this year; 5.9 next year. What gives government confidence of a higher growth path? Where will we find that growth and what will drive that growth because the multilaterals are seeing, are perhaps saying that the global trade disruptions and the geopolitical tensions could impact the growth prospects?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Yeah. This is not the first time that the World Bank was, or many of the other agencies, are more conservative than us ‘no. I have been in government for so many years [unclear] during the time when I was in the Aquino administration, many of the international government agencies – the World Bank, ADB, IMF, at that time were projecting, were telling us that the growth of the economy cannot be higher than five percent. We proved them wrong. We achieved an average of 6.3 percent for that six-year duration.

And I think that even last year, 2022, we grew at 7.6 percent. Nobody … look at their forecast of the economy if they were that high. So, I mean, in government we target, we don’t forecast. We target the growth. And we use the policy tools –fiscal, monetary and other administrative measures to see whether what you are targeting is realistic, achievable or not. Most forecasters are just reading past trends – what the data, what the trends, recent data are telling them. There are no policy tools there. So that’s the difference, we are targeting. And when we target, we have the policy tools as instruments to influence the numbers that we want to achieve.

MIKHAIL REUTERS/REUTERS: Question, sir, on the deficit program because you’ve adjusted the deficit program to 3.7 percent of GDP by the end of 2028.

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: Yes.

MIKHAIL REUTERS/REUTERS: I was wondering, is the government giving up in further lowering that deficit to GDP cap? And will you consider adjusting it downward further if you see improvements in tax administration given that the government has already signaled that new revenue measures, there will be no additional revenue measures except for the ones that have already been announced?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: As I mentioned earlier, not having too many tax measures, new tax measures doesn’t mean that revenues will not improve significantly ‘no. As I said earlier, there’s much scope for tax administration. And I think that with the digitalization—the digitalization kasi has created also some problems for the tax agencies ‘no, many of the e-commerce activities are not captured by the tax system. With the digitalization, when we can digitalize all these transactions and link them with our tax systems, tax infrastructures, then you should be able to improve your tax administration and that’s what we are counting on, the improving of tax because as we can see, iyan nga ang sinabi ko kanina, you look at the other countries, our neighbors, mababa naman ang tax raise nila pero ang taas-taas ng revenue collection; sa atin mataas, mababa iyong collection. So there’s so much space for improving your tax administration, you just have to push that envelop harder. So that’s one.

The second one that I want to note is we would want to grow fast ‘no, particularly it’s an investment-driven growth which would mean that we need to get the private sector come in, but we can complement that with borrowing particularly for infrastructure and our social sector ‘no, the health and education for example and our social protection system, we need to invest into those a lot.

So, we need to continue borrowing and so it’s not in our interest to drastically reduce that deficit because that then will impact on your growth. I think for us is what we want to ensure is that as we borrow and as we make use of facilities like ADB or World Bank, we have to ensure that these projects are high impact projects, that they will lead to higher productivity for the economy so that we can raise the potential of the economy to grow faster in the future.

Iyan kasi—ang trick kasi dito is as of now, I think I mentioned this last time, if you look at the current labor, the capital et cetera, distribution, our long term potential is something like six percent. But you can improve that potential by investing in infrastructure, addressing the cost of doing business and so on, improving the quality of our labor by upskilling and retraining so that that potential growth can be elevated, so we can sustain the growth of the economy. Sana ma-sustain natin for the next 20 years ‘no, because if we can sustain that for the next 20 years then you should be able be like what South Korea is or was when it became a part of the advance countries ‘no.

Q: Can you give us an assessment? It’s still early but can you give us a preview of how the economy performed in the first quarter?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: So far, in terms of the economic environment this quarter versus last quarter, I think it was worse last quarter, high inflation of seven percent. You do not see that inflation now, so I would see better consumption economy. Then, people are not likely expecting further increases in the policy rate, so that again will be a positive force for confidence in people to spend and to invest.

The labor market as I see it today is still very robust, performing quite well, so I’m quite confident about the performance of the economy on first quarter.

OSEÑA-PAEZ: Thank you, one more question from Jean Mangaluz, Inquirer.net

JEAN MANGALUZ/ INQUIRER.NET: Hi Sec. So, President Marcos said that an eight percent economic growth would be possible by the end of his term, how feasible do you think this is at this rate we are growing?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: What we have approved/confirmed yesterday is six and a half to eight percent in the medium term.

JEAN MANGALUZ/ INQUIRER.NET: Do you think po maaabot ninyo iyong eight percent by the end of his term?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: The 2028, we are targeting six in a half to eight. If we hit the eight, we’ll be lucky. But we see it, if the interest rates will continue to fall, there’s a huge housing backlogs, you know if those come in they will drive the economy in substantial low. we have opportunities for green metals, if we can get our acts together to just get green metals mining work for us, of course we have to address issues on environmental sustainability and…but there are many drivers that we can build upon.

OSEÑA-PAEZ: Final question, Sam Medenilla, Business Mirror.

SAM MEDENILLA/BUSINESS MIRROR: Sir, does NEDA already have an impact assessment on the proposed charter change and will the charter change figure impact on the GDP growth targets of the government until 2028?

NEDA SEC. BALISACAN: That’s another, if we can get those amendments that we would want in the Constitution, particularly in the public services – education, I think we could achieve even more, we can get additional sources of growth. We’re counting those will come in but with respect to the amendment of the Constitution, sa lower end, tail end of the administration because even if you are able to open it now, it will take time for that to be felt because investment does not come in overnight eh, ang tagal. Kung minsan like power generation for example, ang gestation niyan ay three, five years ‘no, hindi basta-basta. Even if their board decides now to come in, it will take five years before they can actually operate.

That’s why sustaining the environment, economic environment, the policy environment is so crucial they are able to see the long term in our economy. Kaya nga napakaimportante sa atin iyong sustainability of policies, hindi iyong forward-backward kind of thing because that does not inspire confidence.

OSEÑA-PAEZ: Also to add to that, the World Economic Forum about two weeks ago, had mentioned the importance of the economic reforms that President Marcos’ administration already had put in place and if this continues, he mentioned two trillion to our economy in like ten years something. So, very optimistic and thank you so much, Secretary Balisacan, for giving us this brief. And thank you, Malacañang Press Corp. Magandang umaga sa inyong lahat.

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