Romualdez: PH may surpass targets if economic Cha-cha already in place

MANILA, Philippines — House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez believes the country’s economy can grow beyond its targets if the economic Charter change (Cha-cha) is pursued and eventually implemented.

Romualdez on Friday said that the Philippines could sustain the economic growth experienced under the time of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., even as the National Economic and Development Authority brought down its expected growth range for 2024 from 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent, to 6 percent to 7 percent.

“I am confident that we can hit at least the lowest end of the target range because the economic policies and measures the President and Congress have taken and pursued are keeping us on the right track,” Romualdez said in a statement.

“We can even leapfrog if the proposed economic Charter reforms are already in place,” he added.

According to Romualdez, if the country hits a 6 percent growth rate for 2024, that would not be bad even if it is at the lower end of the target’s spectrum because it would indicate that the Philippines is one of the fastest-growing economies in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Coming from 5.6 percent, it should not be difficult for us to hit at least 6 percent this year. Our economy has been steadily expanding since President Marcos assumed office,” Romualdez said.

However, Romualdez admitted that there are threats to this growth, like the El Niño phenomenon and the dry season which can affect agriculture and food production.

Earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that inflation spiked to 3.7 percent in March from 3.4 percent in February — which signifies that the Philippines has experienced a two-month uptrend after four successive months that inflation went down.

READ: March inflation higher but still within gov’t target range

PSA said that the main culprit of the higher inflation rate was still the more expensive prices of key food items like vegetables, meat, and rice.

According to Romualdez, concerned agencies particularly the Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Reform, the National Irrigation Administration, and local government units (LGUs) should coordinate on how the farming sector could be assisted.

Also, other challenges to the supply chain, like traffic, should be addressed.

“We should have all hands on deck. Irrigation and farm inputs are critical requirements our farmers, especially those producing our staple rice, have to be supported with,” he said.

“Traffic is a big challenge to our economic growth. It is eating up a lot of precious man-hours, fuel, and money, which could be put to productive use. We have to expand our infrastructure. Maybe, we should build skyways along Edsa and other major roads with private financial support and participation,” he added.

READ: Salceda urges gov’t to be ‘obsessed’ with rice supply: It drives inflation up

Earlier, Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda reminded the government again that managing the prices of rice will be key in the battle against inflation.

Salceda in a statement on Friday noted that 57 percent of the inflation recorded in March came from higher food prices, noting that the headline inflation rate could have been as low as 3.1 percent if not for the high rice prices across the world.