BAGUIO CITY: The government’s economic growth target is achievable this year, a Department of Finance (DOF) official said over the weekend.
“I think for the government, our target is 6 to 7 percent. It looks still very achievable,” DOF chief economist Domini Velasquez said during a business journalism seminar organized by the San Miguel Corporation and the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines on Saturday.
The Philippine economy grew by 5.7 percent in the first quarter of the year.
During the first quarter, all major economic indicators which include agriculture, forestry, and fishing; industry; and services posted year-on-year growth in the first quarter at 0.4 percent, 5.1 percent, and 6.9 percent.
Velasquez said the Philippine economy will need to grow by 6.1 percent in the next three quarters to attain the 6-percent growth target for the year.
However, she said the economy will likely grow “a little bit faster in the second quarter of the year.”
Drivers of growth include the good emplo
yment data, and growth in the manufacturing and exports.
“We have been very reliant in services but manufacturing has been quite reliant post-pandemic,” Velasquez said.
She said current proposals under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) MORE (Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy) to increase incentives for power cost will also help boost growth in the manufacturing sector.
Household consumption and government spending are also expected to accelerate in the coming quarters.
“So, once this [household consumption] kicks in, once we have stable inflation, we do think that this will increase and it will prop up your growth kasi yun yung mga [those are the] heavy lifter in terms of growth,” Velasquez said.
“When we look at it, moving forward, it seems that the Philippines will be growing at this kind of pace so when we talk about the potential growth of the Philippines, it’s really at this level. I think maybe around 6 percent,” she added.
The National Economic
and Development Authority (NEDA) earlier said that based on latest available data, Philippine economic growth has so far surpassed other major economies in the region.
NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the first-quarter Philippine gross domestic product growth rate is about the same as Vietnam’s, and has surpassed other major economies such as China at 5.3 percent, Indonesia at 5.1 percent, and Malaysia at 3.9 percent.
Source: Philippines News Agency