Economic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said Tuesday the Philippine economy is on track to meeting the growth target of 7 percent to 9 percent in 2022 despite the global health crisis and the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Chua, who is also the director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority, said in a briefing the full reopening of the economy would be crucial to achieving this goal.
“Most of the country is not yet in Alert Level 1 and schools are not fully reopened. There is a lot more to be done to cushion any risk from the global side, that is the priority,” Chua said.
“We can increase our real income if there are more sectors reopened,” Chua said. “Big part of our economic growth will come from the domestic side, and we have lots of potential [but]] we have not gone back to our normal way of living,” he said.
When asked to quantify the impact to economic growth of the geopolitical crisis, Chua said the magnitude would depend on how long the crisis would last.
“But this is temporary,” he said, adding that the conflict would impact commodity prices, financial markets, trade and overall confidence.
“We have a strong potential to grow domestically… I think we are very much on track on our projected GDP growth this year,” Chua said.
The interagency Development Budget Coordinating Committee earlier said the economy would grow between 7 percent and 9 percent this year, stronger than the actual 5.6-percent expansion last year, which as a reversal of the 9.6-percent contraction in 2020 amid the pandemic.
Chua said the government should support the transport and agriculture/fishery sectors to ensure the economic recovery.
The DBCC said P3 billion would be released by the government to assist workers in the transport sector and farmers and fisherfolk who were affected by rising oil prices and exacerbated by the crisis between Russia and Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the NEDA is pursuing innovation and regional equity in infrastructure to sustain growth and recovery in 2022 and beyond.
Chua said that alongside the recovery program, NEDA was continuously preparing for the future.
“I have shared before that my emerging priorities for the remainder of the term are innovation, regional equity, smart infrastructure and climate change. These priorities are crucial in setting the stage for the next level of our development,” Chua said.
NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon and Undersecretary Mercedita Sombilla presented updates on the implementation of the Philippine Innovation Act and NEDA’s analysis on the regional distribution of infrastructure investments, respectively.
Edillon said innovation is critical for economic growth and job creation.
Signed in 2019 by President Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippine Innovation Act establishes the National Innovation Council, which is the government’s main coordinating body for innovation policies.
The council is drafting the National Innovation Agenda and Strategy Document which will outline the 10-year vision and long-term goals to improve innovation governance and raise overall productivity.