Gov’t confident of hitting GDP target this year

Rosemarie Edillon—MALACAÑANG PHOTO

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) expressed confidence on Sunday that the country can still reach the low end of its gross domestic product (GDP) growth target for 2023, or very close to it.

Neda Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon said the confidence stems from the latest economic indicators released recently, particularly jobs data and the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI).

“For the year, our expectation is we will hit the low end of the [growth] target, if not close to it. The low end of the growth target is 6 percent, so either a 6 or very close to that 6 percent,” Edillon said at a news forum in Quezon City.

The Philippines posted a third-quarter growth of 5.9 percent, bringing to 5.5 percent the GDP rate for the first nine months of 2023.

Despite doubts on the quality of Filipinos’ jobs, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the number of unemployed persons aged 15 and above declined to 2.09 million in October, down from 2.26 million in September.

Lower inflation

The unemployment rate of 4.2 percent, which decreased from 4.5 percent in September, resulted in an employment rate of 95.8 percent, equivalent to 47.08 million Filipinos with jobs.

Earlier this month, Standard & Poor’s Global Market Intelligence reported that the PMI composite score of the manufacturing sector inched up from the 52.4 in October to 52.7 in November.

“We see good [indicators], such as our employment number, the Purchasing Managers Index which we see as still high; it’s sort of our proxy indicators on business movements. So, yeah, we’re actually hopeful about 2023,” she added.

She also noted the inflation rate, which further declined to 4.1 percent in November from 4.9 percent in October, and the October unemployment data which fell to 4.2 percent from 4.5 percent during the same month last year.

Edillon noted that the country’s various sectors are continuing to recover from the pandemic, with more and more jobs being generated in accommodation establishments, restaurants, transportation and information technology-business process outsourcing.

More tourist arrivals

She said one of the important sectors that has started to gain traction is tourism, which was hit hard by the pandemic.

“What we need to really bring back international tourism. Domestic tourism works for holiday economics, so we also have to bring it (international tourism) back,” she said.

The Department of Tourism last month said the Philippines has already breached its target of 4.8 million international visitor arrivals for this year. In 2019, the year before the pandemic, inbound visitors numbered 8.26 million.

The Neda official said government spending to boost the economy is also expected to continue toward the end of the year after catching up in the third quarter following a slump in the second quarter. INQ