| PHOTO: Official website of NEDA / sdg.neda.gov.ph
The National Economic and Development Authority remained optimistic that the Philippines is still likely to achieve upper-middle income status by late next year, even after the World Bank classified the Philippines as a lower-middle income country.
“It is quite there because the threshold is $4500. You need to have that as a minimum to get into the club of upper-middle income countries,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said in an ambush interview.
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Balisacan said that this remains possible, citing that the country’s gross national income (GNI) per capita – or the total amount of money earned by a country’s people and businesses– only needs to grow by 6.7 percent this year.
“Even with per capita it is very reachable and achievable,” he said.
In the first quarter, GNI expanded by 9.7 percent, slower than 11.1 percent in the last quarter of 2024.
“The report that was just launched by the World Bank actually proved me– I mean, it’s consistent with what I was sharing with you,” he said.
The World Bank has classified the Philippines as a lower middle-income country with a GNI per capita of $4,230 in 2023, higher than the $3,950 seen in the previous year.
According to its latest classification, countries with a GNI per capita between $1,146 and $4,515 are considered lower middle-income countries.
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Moreover, Balisacan said that there is no need to change the country’s six to 7 percent economic growth target to be able to achieve the status.
The country grew by 5.7 percent in the first quarter, outdoing most of its neighbors in Southeast Asia due to slower household consumption and government spending.
The Marcos administration is eyeing to hit the upper middle-income status for the Philippines by next year, however this will be more difficult as the World Bank increased the upper-middle income status threshold between $4,516 and $14,005. This was higher compared to the $4,466 and $13,845 threshold previously.