The Philippines has reported a 7.6 percent annual growth for 2022, the highest in 46 years since the country recorded an 8.8 percent growth in 1976. This news was greeted with elation by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., who emphasized the importance of attracting foreign investments to sustain such growth rate and development.
In a statement, President Marcos said, “We are happy to receive the news that our growth rate for the year 2022 exceeded all expectations even by the estimates of the international financing institutions and we are holding at 7.6 percent.” He also acknowledged that inflation is a problem that needs to be addressed and that his administration has been working to bring inflation rates down, especially for agricultural products, by the end of the 2nd quarter.
The President also expressed optimism that the country’s inflation rate will go down to 4 percent by the 3rd or 4th quarter of this year, as forecasted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). He stressed that, “We must maintain, however, that growth rate and that is why it has become so important for us to go out and to attract investment into the Philippines because that is the only way for economic activity to increase and therefore to grow the economy.”
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the Philippines posted a 7.6 percent full-year growth in 2022, which was driven by several sectors such as wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, financial and insurance activities, and manufacturing. Among the major economic sectors, Industry and Services also posted positive growths in the 4th quarter of 2022 with 4.8 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively.
The report also highlighted that the industries which contributed the most to the annual growth were wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, manufacturing, and construction, with growth rates of 8.7 percent, 5.0 percent and 12.7 percent respectively.
As the Philippines looks to maintain its impressive growth rate, President Marcos has called on investors to take advantage of the country’s economic stability and opportunities for growth. He said, “I think that we are headed in the right direction. We still have some interventions that we will have to apply. But nonetheless, we are weathering the shocks on the international economic situation and we are starting to see that the economy is moving in the correct direction.”
