MANILA, Philippines — The Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc.(FFCCCII) has raised its economic growth forecast to seven to nine percent this year from the initial 6.5 to 7.5 percent, citing the appointment of experienced leaders in the economic team under the incoming administration and the continued reopening of the economy.
“We, the diverse business chambers and industry groups under the FFCCCII, are optimistic about the strong momentum of Philippine economic recovery, that we can achieve Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) growth of seven to nine percent this year,” FFCCCII president Henry Lim Bon Liong said in a statement.
FFCCCII’s growth forecast is higher than the economic growth target of the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) for the year.
Last month, the DBCC revised its GDP growth target to seven to eight percent from the original seven to nine percent range, due to risks from external factors like the Russia-Ukraine conflict, slowdown in production in China, as well as the policy normalization by the US Federal Reserve.
Lim said the FFCCCII is upbeat the economy would accelerate this year despite the global uncertainties.
Among the reasons it cited is the appointment of exemplary leaders to be responsible for leading the Philippine economy to growth.
President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. has named current Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno as Finance Secretary, Monetary Board member Felipe Medalla as BSP chief, Philippine Competition Commission chairperson Arsenio Balicasan as National Economic and Development Authority chief, and former University of the Philippines president Alfredo Pascual as Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry.
Lim said the appointment of the outstanding, highly-competent, richly experienced and respected technocrats in the economic posts would boost domestic and foreign investor confidence.
He also cited the continued steady reopening of the Philippine economy as a reason for the bullish economic growth forecast, noting society has now adjusted, adapted and learned to live with the global pandemic.
In addition, he said political stability following the 2022 elections, with a strong electoral mandate for the next administration, also gives the group reason to have a positive economic outlook.
He said the sound monetary and fiscal policies of the current administration, as well as the infrastructure projects under the Build Build Build program that have been completed and under construction likewise support economic growth.
For FFCCCII, the appointment of Vice President-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio as Education Secretary signifies the incoming administration’s commitment to make education a top priority.
“This strong commitment to improving education quality and opportunities shall help unleash the great potentials of the Philippine economy, boosting and maximizing our demographic sweet spot or comparative economic advantage of having young people, as majority of the Filipino national population,” Lim said.
FFCCCII also welcomed and expressed support to the new administration’s commitment to help the agriculture sector and to lower the price of rice.
Lim said the group supports agriculture modernization through better technologies like hybrid rice seedlings, the “Masagana 300” project inspired by the 1970s “Masagana 99” project to boost rice production, better farming methods, and irrigation projects.
He said the FFCCCII has approached the Department of Agriculture for a project to modernize and improve the capabilities of Filipino fishermen to boost their income and reduce the country’s imports.
Another source of optimism on the Philippines’ economic recovery and growth is the rising domestic investment and consumption.
“We encourage continued spending by domestic consumers and by the government to boost economic growth,” FFCCCII said.
The group is also upbeat as the new administration aims to assist and nurture micro, small and medium enterprises to be catalysts of Philippine economic recovery.
As the group expects the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement to be ratified by the Philippine Senate soon, Lim said the trade deal would open more opportunities for export, investments and economic cooperation for the Philippines in the world’s biggest free trade area, which covers all 10 Association of Southeast Nation countries, as well as partners China, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
“The pragmatic independent foreign policy of the Duterte administration is expected to be continued and strengthened by the next Marcos administration, therefore ensuring increased robust export trade, growth in tourism, more foreign direct investments, foreign assistance from and other economic exchanges with all the world’s big powers,” Lim said.
FFCCCII is the umbrella federation of 170 Filipino Chinese chambers, trade and industry groups nationwide.