5-Year Development Plan Leads PH To Economic Recovery

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) currently chaired by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. approved the Philippine Development Plan for 2023-2028 last December 2022 to accelerate and prioritize the country’s economic recovery.

The macroeconomic targets of the development plan are as follows: gross domestic product (GDP) growth ranging from 6.5% to 8%; unemployment rate contained between 4% to 5%, or down from 8% in 2021; single-digit poverty rate at 9% of the population, down from 18.% last year; increase in wage and salaried workers from 48% up to 55%.

NEDA Director-General and Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balicasan said he is confident that the country’s gross national income (GNI) would improve sufficiently by 2025 and will classify the Philippines as an upper to a middle-income economy.

The five-year development plan follows the framework of Ambisyon 40, the long-term development plan established in 2015 and refined during the Duterte administration from 2017 to 2022. The main objectives are the revitalization of job creation and poverty reduction for the country’s economic recovery from the slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

NEDA emphasized that it will ensure the attainment of priority goals such as inflation containment; improved health, education, and social protection services; and job strategies that “will be supported by the enhanced implementation of the National Competition Policy and the accelerated operationalization of amended laws governing foreign investments.”

Moreover, ensure higher employability through reskilling, retooling, and job facilitation, as well as accelerating sustainability efforts that will drive the creation of green jobs and livable communities.

Source: Manila Bulletin