Balisacan says PDP will drive economic growth momentum

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on Saturday said the Marcos administration’s Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 will enable the economy to recover its growth momentum.

This, after the Philippine economy grew at a slower pace in the second quarter of 2023 with a 4.3% growth rate, lower than the 6.4% rate seen in the first quarter of the year amid high inflation and elevated interest rates that tempered domestic consumption.

In a statement, the state socioeconomic planning agency said NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan assured members of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations during the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s (DBCC) presentation of the proposed P5.768 trillion 2024 national budget that the PDP 2023-2028 outlines the strategies towards economic recovery despite domestic and external risks.

“The PDP guides the allocation of government resources to various programs and projects that will contribute to the attainment of the government’s socioeconomic agenda,” said Balisacan.

The NEDA chief also cited some of the major risks that the DBCC considered when identifying the spending priorities in the proposed national budget.

“In terms of domestic risks, elevated inflation may continue to dampen domestic demand, while high input prices, the spread of infectious animal diseases, and inclement weather, including the onset of El Niño that is expected to last until Q1 2024, may reduce farm output,” he said.

The Economic Team —consisting of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the NEDA, the Department of Finance, and the Department of Budget and Management—recently held a House briefing shortly after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew slower during the second quarter of the year.

The April to June growth rate brought growth rate average to 5.3% in the first half of the year.

Apart from inflation and high interest rates, the NEDA chief also pointed to the government's underspending as state expenditure contracted by 7.1% “in the absence of election-related spending in the first half of the year.”

The government missed its P2.58-trillion spending program in the first half of 2023 by 6.6%, with actual expenditures amounting to P2.411 trillion, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.

Balisacan said the government “will accelerate the execution of government programs and projects, including the delivery of public services, under the 2023 national budget.”

The NEDA chief said strategies include ensuring food security; addressing learning losses; boosting health; strengthening social protection; reducing transport, logistics, and energy costs through modernized and upgraded infrastructure; ensuring sound fiscal management; and accelerating the digital transformation of government.

The country’s chief economist also reiterated that the key to achieving inclusive growth is generating quality jobs from investments.

“It’s not so much the employment that’s the problem; it’s the quality of jobs. To improve the quality of jobs, we need more investors; we need jobs in manufacturing, in high quality services… We also have to improve the employability of our workers so that they can be absorbed in emerging sectors like creative industries and the green economy,” Balisacan said. —VAL, GMA Integrated News