DAVOS2, Switzerland – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr expressed optimism that the Philippine economy could grow at a faster pace of 7 percent this year despite all the global headwinds, more optimistic than his economic team’s projection of at least 6.5 percent.
During the country strategy dialogue hosted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday, Marcos said while the International Monetary Fund was expecting global economic growth to decline to just 2.7 percent this year from 3.2 percent last year and 6 percent in 2021, “the picture is slightly different” for the Philippines.
“We project our economy to grow by around 7 percent in 2023. Our actual projection is 6.5 but there are signs that we might be able to surpass that,” the President said during the second day of the WEF annual meetings in this ski town resort.
“Our strong macroeconomic fundamentals, fiscal discipline, structural reforms, and liberalization of key sectors instituted over the years have enabled us to withstand the negative shocks caused by the pandemic and succeeding economic downturns and map a route towards a strong recovery. There’s a vast range of investment opportunities available such as in renewable energy, agro-processing, transportation, infrastructure development, among others, and several public-private partnerships in the pipeline,” he added.
Marcos noted that the government had intensified its measures to help improve local food production and help the agricultural sector to strengthen and quickly recover from the deterioration of the agricultural value chain.
He vowed to pursue modernization and innovation programs, the development of new farming and fishing technologies, as well as the adoption of climate and disaster-resilient technologies, for the enhancement of the agricultural value chain system.
“We also need to ensure that sufficient welfare measures are in place to cushion the impact of elevated inflationary pressures, especially towards the most affected and vulnerable sectors in our society,” he said.
“As we convene here in Davos, efforts are likewise focused on strengthening the country’s engagement with trading partners and promoting the use of the country’s network of FTAs (free trade agreements) to maximize opportunities. We stress the importance of economic and technical cooperation to assist the development of smaller economies and enable their participation, both of small businesses and economic segments with untapped potential, in the global economy and also of large-scale industrial development,” he said.
