PH concedes losing out to Vietnam's growth

Citing a lackluster performance that the Philippine economy has been showing since its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, climbing to the high-income-status target 15 years from now could be impossible, the country’s chief socioeconomic planner stated.

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Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan told reporters during the agency’s midyear press briefing on Thursday, July 31, that the economy had been severely affected by the worst postwar recession experienced at the height of the pandemic in 2020.

“That’s quite a big deal—a lot of contraction. And what that meant is we lost three years of growth momentum,” Balisacan said. “So that 2040 [high-income-status aspiration], at the current growth rate, is not likely going to be feasible anymore.”