Palace: Upper-Middle Income Status for PH Still Within Reach

Malacañang remains optimistic that the Philippines will achieve an upper-middle income status within President Marcos' term even if the country remained under the lower-middle income category in the latest classification released by the World Bank.

- By ALEXIS ROMERO

Under the Philippine Development Plan, the government seeks to get the country back on track toward achieving upper-middle income status by 2025. The development agenda is guided by targets prioritizing poverty reduction and inclusive growth and highlights the need to rebuild the losses from the pandemic and to improve in areas like health and social protection.

However, the Philippines still fell within the lower-middle income country category or those with a gross national income (GNI) per capita of $1,136 to $4,495 in the latest World Bank country income classification. It recorded a GNI per capita of $4,470, only $26 short of the $4,496 to $13,935 requirement to be considered an upper-middle income country.