Marcos Jr. said in his first SONA that it would be possible to attain upper-middle income economy by 2024

 

Missing Context

 

During his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. bared his economic goals for his term. What is missing, however, are concrete actions to achieve these goals.

Among his goals is the attainment of upper-middle income status by 2024. Despite his positive outlook on the economic growth, the newly-elected president did not specify how his administration will achieve this target.

 

In a May 16 interview with ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), then acting socioeconomic planning secretary Karl Chua stated that the Philippines is more likely to achieve upper-middle economic status by 2023. Chua based his forecast on the 8.3% GDP expansion recorded during the first quarter of 2022.

However, Chua further added that the Philippine economy need to achieve 6.6% growth rate in the next three quarters to achieve its full-year target.

 

Incoming National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) secretary Arsenio Balisacan supported this statement in a BusinessWorld roundtable in June.

“It might take a while for us to reach that point. So, if we grow at 7% next year, maybe by 2024 we would probably be there.” said Balisacan.

Due to the bleak economic prospects worldwide, the assertion that the Philippines will reach an upper-middle economic status anytime soon remains more to be speculation rather than scientific targeting.

 

The Philippines’ economic rebound will actually depend on how the current administration will actively face the bleak conditions that the world economy presently experiences. – Hyacinth Estrada