PH should prepare for threat of global recession despite GDP growth — Zubiri

Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri Senate PRIB file photo / Voltaire Domingo

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines should be ready for the threat of a global recession despite growth in its 2022 gross domestic product (GDP), Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Thursday.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, the Philippines posted a 7.2 percent GDP growth, and a 7.6 percent growth for the entire year, the nation’s highest GDP growth in 46 years.

Zubiri lauded the GDP growth and said it is a “remarkable success.”

“I am hopeful that we will continue on an upward trajectory this 2023, and with the coordination between the executive and the legislative, we are committed to strengthening our economic measures and building on the gains we have made so far. We also need to keep supporting the sectors that are still slowly recovering from the pandemic, such as trade, tourism, and transport,” he said in a statement.

“The challenge, now, is to prepare for the threat of a global recession. We need to make sure that our macroeconomic policies and fundamentals are kept in check to weather the possible effects of external headwinds that may come our way,” he added.

The Senate president said they must work on making the public feel the GDP growth, especially in day-to-day expenses.

Zubiri attributed the growth to the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s “clear economic targets, and their strong push to sell the country as an investment hotspot.”

Consumer spending

Meanwhile, Senator Sonny Angara noted that the growth data for last year was driven by consumer spending, which is “not ideal and sustainable.”

“Prices of goods remain high and this, coupled with the hit on household savings will have an impact on spending in the first quarter this year,” Angara said in a separate statement.

“We expect the administration to build on its gains and we in Congress will provide our support to its initiatives that will contribute to addressing inflation, creating jobs and pump priming the economy,” the Senate committee on finance chairperson added.

Still, Angara welcomed the news and said that it “clearly shows that the economy has bounced back after the historic slump” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For 2023, the Marcos administration is expecting the Philippine economy to grow by 6.5 percent.

JPV