NEDA Optimistic About PH's Economic Growth Expansion In 2024

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan expressed optimism that the Philippines' economic growth will continue to be one of the fastest in the region in 2024.

Job seekers peruse company hiring ads during a job fair. I Photo: Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority

He emphasized that "all the major development observers are seeing at least a 6 percent growth for the Philippines this year."

"The IMF (International Monetary Fund), the ADB (Asian Development Bank), and the World Bank are seeing quite good numbers," the NEDA chief underscored.

He noted that the IMF expects the Philippine economy to grow by 6.2 percent this year, the ADB forecasts economic growth to settle at 6 percent, and the World Bank expects the Philippine economy to grow by 5.9 percent in 2024.

"In the latest ADB report, in Southeast Asia, they put us as the highest performer in 2024. So even though not as high as we targeted in the beginning of the administration, the fact that while everybody was downgraded, or we were downgraded in terms of the absolute level of growth... still we are expected to perform among the best in Asia," Balisacan highlighted.

He said that for this year, the government targets a 6 to 7 percent economic growth. Balisacan said that the latest government target is already factored into the scenario of a higher-for-longer interest rate.

"When we looked at the 6-7 percent target, that's more or less already given because we know that the interest rates have quite an impact down the road, so that's already given that the interest rates... the result of the policy actions last year are expected to be felt this year," he further said.

Balisacan, meanwhile, said that he is hoping that the April 2024 headline inflation data will settle close to March 2024's 3.7 percent level.

"Headline inflation was 3.7 percent last time… So hopefully, we get as close to that as possible. What we are watching is the 2 to 4 percent target for the year because inflation can go up, go down but what we want is to keep that within the band so that there will not be much instability in the market," he bared.