Marcos on 8% economic growth by end of his term: Why not?

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.  (PPA POOL)

MANILA, Philippines—President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. believes that he can end his term with an 8 percent economic growth rate.

In a Bloomberg interview released on Wednesday, Marcos was asked if the Philippines could achieve an 8 percent growth rate.

The president replied: “Why not?”

“You know, there’s no — we plan. We always plan for the ideal. We don’t plan for a mediocre result. We plan for a very good result. And as I said, we just have to adjust along the way as we continue to transform the economy. But, yes, I think it is, I think it is doable,” said Marcos.

Marcos said he believes the Philippines could achieve 6 to 7 percent for this year.

“Well, much of that much of the policies that we’ve taken on are really to spur growth. That’s part of the most, that’s the most important part because it is only growth that will pull us out of this, the morass that was left after the pandemic,” said Marcos.

The president said, however, that the Philippines must remain resilient to external shocks.

“If we are also agile in terms of responding to the shock that come up from other, from the outside. To put it that way, shocks that we cannot control or can, have very little influence over,” said Marcos.

The Philippines’ economic performance in 2023, however, failed to meet the government’s expectations.

The country’s 2023 growth rate was 5.6 percent year-on-year, whereas the government had a target of 6 to 7 percent.