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Philippine economic ministers could possibly revise their economic growth targets for 2025 during the next meeting of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) after the slower-than-expected figure seen in the past year, its chair said Wednesday. According to Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, the DBCC will take into account several factors during its meeting in March and decide whether or not to retain the economic growth target range of 6.0% to 8.
0% for the year. “Maybe we’ll need to adjust if needed, we’ll do the necessary adjustment,” she told reporters at the sidelines of an event in Taguig City. The DBCC is chaired by the Budget Secretary and counts as members the Department of Finance (DOF), the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Office of the President (OP), and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The Philippines posted an economic growth of 5.6% in 2024, slower than the downward revised target range of 6.0% to 6.
5%. This is the second straight year that the country has missed its target expansion. Inflation, meanwhile, clocked in at 2.
9% in December 2024, bringing the full-year figure to 3.2% or within the government’s target range of 2.0% to 4.
0%. The government has yet to release employment figures for the month of December and the full-year 2024 with latest data available showing that there were 1.66 million jobless individuals in November, down from 1.
97 million in the previous month. “I think there’s an MB (Monetary Board), there’s a policy meeting soon, next week, among others, so once the numbers are in, then we’ll check what’s happening in our peers,” Pangandaman said. The Monetary Board is scheduled to meet on February 13, 2025, to discuss whether or not a change in policy rates is warranted.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor Eli Remolona Jr. said a rate cut is on the table. --VAL, GMA Integrated News.
