Marcos – Page 12 – Author Carlo Carrasco

Philippines targets economic growth of 6.5% to 7.5% for 2024

January 25, 2024January 18, 2024carlocarrasco

Even though there are still uncertainties ahead, the national authorities here in the Philippines forecast economic growth of 6.5% to 7.5% this year, according to a Philippine News Agency (PNA) news article.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the news article of the PNA. Some parts in boldface…

The government is sticking to its gross domestic product (GDP) target of 6.5 to 7.5 percent for 2024 despite many organizations forecasting the economic expansion this year will miss the administration’s goal.

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon on Wednesday said the government has remained optimistic about achieving its target GDP growth for 2024.

“Of course, it’s a target. So, theirs is a forecast, meaning they are looking at what has been the trajectory before. But in our case, we have drivers for growth that we are pushing for,” Edillon told reporters on the sidelines of a joint economic briefing of foreign chambers in Makati City.

Among these sectors that would support economic expansion are international tourism, the Build Better More program of the administration, and the mass housing projects under the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino or the 4PH Program.

“Then that will be a big factor actually in accelerating the growth,” she said.

Most of the forecasts of multilateral organizations and banks on Philippine GDP this year were below the government’s target.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think that the economy of the Philippines has enough momentum to grow at least 6.5% this year? What do you think will become the biggest obstacle for the Philippine economy with regards to external or overseas developments?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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VAT exemption in sale of residential properties hiked to P3.6 million

January 20, 2024January 17, 2024carlocarrasco

Those of you who own residential properties should be aware that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) formally announced that it has hiked the value-added tax (VAT) exemption in the sale of residential properties to P3.6 million (over P400,000 higher than previous), according to a Philippine News Agency (PNA) news article.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the news article of the PNA. Some parts in boldface…

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has increased the threshold for value-added tax (VAT) exemption for the sale of house and lot as well as other residential dwellings from nearly PHP3.2 million to PHP3.6 million.

This, as BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. has issued Revenue Regulations 1-2024, compliant with Section 109 (P) of the National Internal Revenue Code.

The adjustment reflected the commitment to align the threshold with present values every three years using the consumer price index as published by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

“This timely increase in VAT exemption shows our commitment to Excellent Taxpayer Service. This increase in the selling price threshold, for VAT exemption purposes, of the sale of house and lot, and other residential dwelling from PHP3,199,200 to PHP3,600,000 gives testament to the BIR’s improved and updated services,” Lumagui said.

The BIR said its focus on Excellent Taxpayer Service aligns with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s recent signing of the Ease of Paying Taxes Act.

The enactment of the legislation pushes for a modernized tax system, aiming to assist taxpayers in fulfilling their obligations, Lumagui said.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? If you are a property owner, does the BIR’s act affect you? Do you think the raised VAT exemption will make a strong impact on many residential properties?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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World Bank sees Philippine economy growing at 5.8% this year

January 18, 2024January 11, 2024carlocarrasco

While local economic managers predict the Philippine economy growing between 6.5% to 7.5% this year, the World Bank (WB) itself forecasts a 5.8% growth for 2024, according to a BusinessWorld news report.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the BusinessWorld news report. Some parts in boldface…

THE WORLD BANK (WB) expects the Philippines to be among the fastest-growing economies in Southeast Asia this year.

In its latest Global Economic Prospects, the multilateral lender projected Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) to expand by 5.8% in 2024, same as its forecast in December.

The Philippine growth projection is the fastest among Southeast Asian economies, tied with Cambodia (5.8%), and ahead of Vietnam (5.5%), Indonesia (4.9%), Malaysia (4.3%), Lao People’s Democratic Republic (4.1%), Timor-Leste (3.5%), Thailand (3.2%) and Myanmar (2%).

However, this is below the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s (DBCC) 6.5-7.5% growth target for 2024.

The World Bank’s growth forecast for the Philippines is also higher than its 4.5% projection for East Asia and the Pacific.

The multilateral lender sees slower growth in the region due to the “anticipated deceleration in economic activity in China.”

Other risks to the growth outlook include geopolitical tensions in the Middle East that could lead to higher oil prices, dampened global trade, tightening financial conditions and climate-related disasters, it said.

“Extreme weather events, the frequency of which has increased in recent decades as a result of climate change, also pose a downside risk to the regional outlook,” it added.

In the Philippines, the government is preparing for the potential impact of the El Niño weather event this year.

The latest bulletin from the state weather bureau showed that El Niño will likely persist from March to May, when dry season crops are often harvested.

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan earlier said El Niño would likely affect the agriculture sector and drive food prices higher, which could threaten the inflation downtrend.

On the other hand, the multilateral lender said resilient domestic demand could spur growth drivers in the East Asia and Pacific region.

“Modest inflation, and in many cases robust labor markets supported by buoyant service activity, are anticipated to sustain household spending,” it said.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think the economy of the Philippines will grow better this year than the WB’s prediction of 5.8%?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Ease of Paying Taxes Act signed into law by President Marcos

January 11, 2024January 7, 2024carlocarrasco

In recent times, Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., signed into law the Ease of Paying Taxes Act (officially referred to as Republic Act Number 11976 or RA11976), according to a news article by the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the PNA news article. Some parts in boldface…

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed into law Republic Act (RA) 11976 or the Ease of Paying Taxes Act which aims to modernize and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of tax administration and strengthen taxpayer rights.

In a statement on Sunday, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said the Ease of Paying Taxes Act is one of the priority legislations mentioned during the State of the Nation Address in 2022 and 2023.

“The law allows the government to capture as many taxpayers as possible into the tax net by streamlining the system and minimizing the burden on taxpayers, increasing the country’s revenue collection in the long run,” the PCO said.

The new law, signed on Friday, introduces administrative tax reforms and amendments to several sections of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997.

It also updates the Philippine taxation system, adopts best practices and replaces antiquated procedures.

Among RA 11976’s salient features are classification of taxpayers into micro, small, medium, and large; electronic or manual filing of returns and payment taxes either to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), through any authorized agent bank or authorized tax software provider; option to pay internal revenue taxes removal to the City or Municipal Treasurer; elimination of the distinction between documentation and basis of sales of goods and services; and classification of value-added tax (VAT) refund claims into low, medium and high-risk.

The law ensures the availability of registration facilities to non-Philippine resident taxpayers; promoting and assisting taxpayers in tax processes; streamlining; reducing documentary requirements; and digitalizing BIR services through the development of the Ease of Paying Taxes and Digitalization Roadmap.

The law likewise imposes 180 days to act on claims for refund of erroneous or illegal tax collection and increases the amount for the mandatory issuance of receipts for each sale and transfer of goods and services from PHP100 to PHP500.

According to PCO, the law mandates the BIR to adopt an integrated digitalization strategy by providing end-to-end solutions for the benefit of taxpayers.

These include adopting integrated and automated system for facilitating basic tax services, setting up electronic and online system for data and information exchange between offices and departments, streamlining of procedures by adopting automation and digitalization of BIR services, and building up BIR’s technology capabilities.

RA 11976’s implementing rules and regulations shall be promulgated 90 days from the effectivity of the Act after the consultation of the Finance Secretary with the BIR and the private sector.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think this new law will positively impact the nation’s taxation system? Do you think the new law’s impact will be felt within the next two years?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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CREATE Law attracts over P1 trillion worth of investments

January 10, 2024January 4, 2024carlocarrasco

While it is still uncertain as to how much the Philippine economy will grow by the end of this new year, over a trillion Pesos of investments were attracted by means of project approvals under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Law, according to a news article published by the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the PNA news article. Some parts in boldface…

More than 900 projects with total investments of PHP1.02 trillion have so far been approved under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act as of end-October last year, the Department of Finance (DOF) said on Thursday.

In a Facebook post, the DOF said a total of 910 projects varying across priority sectors listed in the Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP) have been approved under the CREATE law.

“This monumental achievement is a testament to the continuous efforts of the PBBM administration to promote the Philippines as a sound investment destination,” the department said.

Of the 910 projects, 49 big-ticket tax incentive applications with a combined investment capital of PHP817 billion were approved by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board.

The remaining 861 projects with a total investment capital of PHP203 billion were from Investment Promotion Agencies.

“These projects are expected to accumulate a committed employment count of around 99,400 jobs within its incentivized period, with the labor-intensive manufacturing sector having the highest number of approved projects among the priority sectors,” the DOF added.

“This underscores the employability of the country’s workforce in high-quality jobs that will contribute to long-term economic growth.”

CREATE establishes a performance-based, time-bound, targeted, and transparent tax incentives regime in the country.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think that more big-time investment-related projects will continue to come in via the CREATE Law?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Philippines attracts 5.45 million international visitors and generates P482.54 billion in revenue in 2023

January 5, 2024January 2, 2024carlocarrasco

The success of the Philippines attracting visitors from overseas and generating the related revenue in 2023 has finally been confirmed by the newly released numbers from the Department of Tourism (DOT): 5,450,557 international visitors and P482.54 billion (US$8.7 billion according to the foreign exchange rate of January 2, 2024) in tourism revenue, according to a Philippine News Agency (PNA) news article.

For the newcomers reading this, the final 2023 statistics exceeded the declared targets of 4.8 million international tourists and US$5.8 billion revenue. For further comparison, the Philippines attracted 2.65 million international arrivals and over P200 billion in revenue for the year 2022. To say the least, 2023 is undeniably a successful year for Philippine tourism and it seems that the controversial blunder behind the “Love the Philippines” tourism campaign did not lead to a massive failure (which the enemies and haters of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., have been dreaming of).

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the PNA news article. Some parts in boldface…

The Philippines welcomed a total of 5,450,557 international visitors in 2023, well above the 4.8 million target arrivals the Department of Tourism (DOT) earlier set for the entire year.

Of this number, 91.80 percent or 5,003,475 are foreigners while the remaining are 447,082 overseas Filipinos.

From January to Dec. 31, 2023, the country also generated an estimated PHP482.54 billion in international tourism revenue, more than double the receipts it recorded in 2022.

“My deepest appreciation goes to every tourism stakeholder, collaborative partner, and passionate contributor who propelled our shared aspirations forward. Under President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.’s guiding vision and leadership, tourism has become a pivotal force driving our nation’s economic resurgence,” Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said in a statement Tuesday.

“These numbers speak very well of the performance of the tourism industry under the Marcos Administration,” she added.

She said the DOT will continue its work to “realize the vision of this administration to make tourism a catalyst for economic growth and resurgence.”

More than a quarter or 1,439,336 of the arrivals came from South Korea, retaining its spot as the country’s main source of international visitors.

This was followed by the United States with 903,299 tourists (16.57 percent) visiting the country; Japan with 305,580 (5.61 percent); Australia with 266,551 (4.89 percent); and China with 263,836 (4.84 percent). Ranking sixth was Canada followed by Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Frasco said the 2023 visitor receipts also show that the tourism industry is “recovering faster than expected.”

The country’s 2023 international tourism receipts grew by 124.87 percent compared with the PHP214.58 billion estimated visitor receipts from 2022.

Before the pandemic in 2019, the DOT recorded PHP482.15 billion in international tourism receipts.

In 2023, the DOT’s marketing arm the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) generated PHP6.317 billion in total sales leads both from international and local business-to-business and promotional events.

While reintroducing Filipino destinations before the global tourism arena, the Philippines represented by Frasco last year was also elected Vice President of the 25th General Assembly of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), a prestigious global position last held by the country more than two decades ago.

She was also elected as chair of the Commission for East Asia and the Pacific, allowing the country to host the Joint Regional Meetings of the Committee for East Asia and the Pacific and South Asia in Cebu in 2024.

The Philippines in 2023 bagged at least 15 travel and tourism honors from prestigious award-giving bodies in diving, beach, cruise, culinary, retirement, and Muslim-friendly tourism, “a testament that the Philippines is indeed an emerging tourism powerhouse.”

“The extraordinary journey of Philippine tourism in 2023 saw the world express its love for the Philippines with our country’s rise to global prominence as the World’s Leading Beach and Dive Destination, and Asia’s Best Cruise Destination, among many other accolades,” Frasco said.

“The indomitable spirit of the Filipino has been globally acclaimed with the Philippines receiving the Global Tourism Resilience Award with our country seen as a benchmark for innovation amidst trials and challenges,” she added.

By 2024, the DOT targets 7.7 million international visitors, around 500,000 lower than the country’s pre-pandemic arrivals of 8.2 million.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think the Philippines will be able to meet its declared 2024 target of 7.7 million international visitors and possibly generate between P600 billion to P700 billion in tourism revenue? Did anyone from the haters/critics of President Marcos and Secretary Frasco bother you to make you believe that Philippine tourism will fail because of the “Love the Philippines” campaign blunder that was so widely reported in the mainstream news media?

Going back to tourism, do you think the Philippines should have more international-level fashion shows, film festivals, worship conferences, food festivals, sports events and trade shows to make the nation more attractive to visitors from overseas?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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A successful 2023 for tourism in the Philippines

January 2, 2024December 27, 2023carlocarrasco

If you set aside all the politicking and hatred, you will realize that there is no denying that tourism in the Philippines (handled by the Department of Tourism under the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr.) turned out very successful over the previous year in terms of foreign tourist arrivals and tourism revenues based on the most recent statistics recorded as emphasized in the recent news article published by the Philippine News Agency (PNA). The exact and final 2023 tourism statistics should be revealed very soon.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the PNA news article. Some parts in boldface…

As inbound and domestic travel gain momentum, tourism in the Philippines has seen a remarkable turnaround this 2023, breaching targets and continuing to generate employment to millions of Filipinos.

Based on the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) latest data, the industry already surpassed its target of 4.8 million foreign arrivals with over five million visitors recorded as of Dec. 12.

From January to November, the Philippines has hit PHP439.5 billion in foreign visitor receipts shooting past the 2022 figures of PHP208.96 billion.

This number also translates to a 95.85 percent recovery of the 2019 pre-pandemic international visitor receipts, when the country generated PHP458 billion for the same months.

As of Dec. 12, South Korea ranked first as the Philippines’ top source market with 1,341,029 arrivals, followed by the United States with 836,694; Japan with 285,655; China with 252,171; and Australia with 238,487.

Canada landed sixth place with 206,571, followed by Taiwan with 186,140, United Kingdom with 141,516, Singapore with 140,633, and Malaysia with 92,383.

“The performance of Philippine tourism this year has exceeded all expectations. And what these numbers would indicate is a robust economic growth,” Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said in her year-end assessment report.

Citing the country’s economic managers, Frasco said tourism this year has also emerged as one the “strongest pillars” of the economy, ranking second in terms of the source for growth.

“Notably, the number one source of economic growth is employment of which tourism also contributes in large number of over 5.35 million, in fact,” she said.

Roads, rest areas, flights – Since the beginning of the year, the DOT has been pushing for the construction of more rest areas and roads leading to tourist destinations across the country.

To date, the DOT and its infrastructure arm, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), have launched ten tourist rest areas, with plans to build 18 more in 2024.

DOT’s collaboration with the Department of Public Works and Highways has also yielded 158 kilometers of tourism roads and an investment of at least PHP16 billion in tourism roads for 2023.

Frasco said the country has likewise recovered nearly 80 percent of its pre-pandemic international incoming seat capacity.

As of November 2023, there are over 1.4 million international seats available, vis-a-vis the one million recorded last year, and the 1.7 million recorded in 2019.

Frasco had also been meeting with stakeholders to relay Manila’s support for direct flights, including with France, the United Kingdom, and Italy.

Consistently ‘leading’ – The Philippines once again showcased the unrivaled charm of its beaches and underwater destinations to tourists from across the globe after bagging the World’s Leading Dive Destination and the World’s Leading Beach Destination awards at the prestigious World Travel Awards (WTA) 2023.

The country also net the Global Tourism Resilience Award for demonstrating “global leadership, pioneering vision, and innovation to overcome critical challenges and adversity while Manila was named the World’s Leading City Destination.

The DOT this year also introduced its new tourism branding “Love the Philippines” to emphasize that the Philippines has a lot more to offer than fun from its natural assets and history to its rich culture.

Along with the new campaign, the DOT sought to increase travel activities in other regions by helping them develop lesser-known tourism destinations.

The DOT launched various tourism initiatives such as the Philippine Experience Programs: Culture, Heritage, and Arts Caravan, which emphasized the country’s diverse cultural heritage and has so far staged four in Davao, Calabarzon, Bicol, and Western Visayas.

Better than expected – Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC) graded the industry’s performance as “better than expected,” saying the country’s focus on domestic travel also contributed to its resurgence in the face of “uncertainties” in key source markets such as China and Japan.

“Despite uncertainties in these external markets, the country’s focus on boosting internal tourism significantly bolstered the industry’s stability and growth,” it said.

For 2024, the DOT has set a modest target of 7.7 million foreign visitors, 500,000 less than the 8.2 million arrivals it generated before the pandemic

LPC Director for Hotel, Leisure, and Tourism Alfred Lay said South Korea has returned to about 72 percent arrivals while China only recovered 15 percent.

Lay said the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia were all in the “same boat” and have witnessed fairly low recovery rates from Chinese inbound guests but the country was still able to breach its 2023 target.

“Next year is going to be a pivotal year because where are we going to get those (2024) numbers? If the Chinese economic slowdown continues and the Japanese Yen stays where it is, maybe the Korean market will give us more but another two million more, I don’t think so,” he said.

“The 7.7 million is a very interesting target and I’m very interested to see what happens next year, to see if the Philippines has the ability to generate two million new arrivals,” he added.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What do you think about this recent development? Do you think the 2024 target of 7.7 million foreign tourist arrivals is achievable even though there are uncertainties overseas that could affect the Philippines as a tourist destination? Do you think the DOT should focus more on encouraging locals to add to the tourism industry’s growth in 2024? When it comes to foreign visitor revenue, do you think the Philippines can attract P500 billion in 2024? Do you think the recent conflicts between the Philippines and China over the West Philippine Sea could negatively affect the inflow of Chinese tourists into the country this year?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Muntinlupa Mayor Biazon hopes Maynilad’s new water treatment plant in the city will solve water service interruptions

December 21, 2023December 17, 2023carlocarrasco

Recently in the City of Muntinlupa, the newest water treatment plant (WTP) of water concessionaire Maynilad in Barangay Poblacion was formally inaugurated with the presence of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., and Mayor Biazon expressed hope that the said plant will solve water service interruptions, according to a Manila Bulletin news report.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the news report of the Manila Bulletin. Some parts in boldface…

Muntinlupa Mayor Ruffy Biazon is hoping that Maynilad’s new water treatment plant in the city will solve water service interruptions that are being experienced by residents.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. led the inauguration of Maynilad’s Poblacion Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in Muntinlupa on Dec. 15.

“We hope this new facility will help address challenges in water supply in Muntinlupa,” posted Biazon on Facebook.

Biazon joined the inauguration along with Muntinlupa Rep. Jaime Fresnedi, Poblacion Barangay Chairman Allen Ampaya, Environment Sec. Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) Administrator Leonor Cleofas, and Maynilad Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

According to Maynilad, the Poblacion WTP has a capacity to produce 150 million liters of water per day.

Biazon said this December, the plant is expected to produce 50 million liters per day, and by the first half of 2024, it will go on full operations.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) led today, December 15, 2023, the formal inauguration of Maynilad’s Poblacion Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in Muntinlupa City.

Maynilad said the new WTP cost P11 billion and it is the company’s third water treatment facility that gets raw water from the Laguna Lake.

It said the new plant will service about one million customers in Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, and Cavite.

“The additional water supply it produces will help to minimize service interruptions due to raw water quality shifts in Laguna Lake, which have been occurring with more frequency owing to the effects of climate change,” the company said in a press release.

It said the new treatment plant uses a multi-stage process of dissolved air flotation, cloth filter, biological aerated filter, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, and chlorination to ensure that the water from Laguna Lake passes the Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water (PNSDW) of the Department of Health.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? If you are a resident of Muntinlupa City, are you optimistic that the new WTP of Maynilad will at least reduce the number of water service interruptions?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Philippines attracts 5 million foreign tourist arrivals, sets 2024 target at 7.7 million

December 18, 2023December 13, 2023carlocarrasco

With a few more weeks to go before 2023 finally comes to an end, the Department of Tourism (DOT) confirmed that the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the Philippines just surpassed the 5,000,000 mark and they raised the stakes even higher for 2024, according to a Malaya Business Insight news report.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Malaya news report. Some parts in boldface…

After breaching 5 million in tourist arrivals as of December 12, the Philippines hopes to attract 7.7 million tourists in 2024.

Christina Frasco, secretary of the Department of Tourism (DOT) in her accomplishment report yesterday, said the Philippines has exceeded its 4.8 million goal when it logged 5.06 million visitors as of yesterday.

These tourists contributed P440 billion in receipts to the economy or more than double than the P209 billion recorded last year.

“In 2024, we are more than optimistic that we will once again reach our targets as we have proven in the past two years. For next year, we’re targeting 7.7 million international arrivals. I understand that this is not yet pre-pandemic numbers of 2019 at over 8.2 million international arrivals, but what I can assure you is that we will push as hard as we can and fully activate our convergences with other government agencies to reach this target and bring us closer to pre- pandemic numbers even as we grapple with many forces beyond our control globally and locally,” Frasco said.

Frasco also disclosed the DOT has proposed P5 billion infusion for the construction of new tourism roads in addition to the construction of tourism roads for 2024.

Frasco said recovery rate on arrivals to pre-pandemic of Philippine tourism is at 65 percent as of November, faster than the 62 percent average rate in Asia-Pacific as of September.

She said in terms of international visitor receipts, Philippine recovery is at 95 percent of the P458 billion visitor receipts in 2019.

This is a 267 percent increase versus the same period last year with a little over 2.6 million visitor arrivals in 2022. Tourism created over 5.35 million jobs which means that for every 100 Filipinos, 11 are employed in tourism related jobs.

According to Frasco, the Philippines has already recovered nearly 80 percent of its pre-COVID international incoming seat capacity.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Now that the Philippines has recorded more than 5 million foreign tourist arrivals, do you think there is still a chance for the figure to reach 6 million by December 31, 2023? Do you think the 2024 target of 7.7 million foreign tourist arrivals is achievable?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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NEDA projects 2023 Philippine economic growth at 6%

December 13, 2023December 10, 2023carlocarrasco

As the 2023 is coming to an end, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) expressed confidence that the economy of the Philippines will achieve 6% growth this year, according to a Philippine News Agency (PNA) news article.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the PNA news report. Some parts in boldface…

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is positive the country will hit the low end of its economic growth target at 6 percent by the end of the year.

“For the year, ang expectation namin is we will hit the low end of the target. If not, close to it (our expectation is that we will hit the low end of the target. If not, close to it). The low end of the growth target is at 6 percent, so either a 6 or very close to that,” NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon said at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

The Philippine economy posted the strongest third-quarter growth of 5.9 percent among major Asian economies, bringing the gross domestic product (GDP) expansion for the first nine months of 2023 to 5.5 percent.

Vietnam recorded 5.3 percent, Indonesia and China 4.9 percent, and Malaysia 3.3 percent during the third quarter.

Looking at the Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) as one indicator, Edillon said she is optimistic the GDP forecast is achievable.

She also noted the October unemployment data, which fell to 4.2 percent from 4.5 percent during the same month last year.

“Nakita namin na maganda rin naman ang employment numbers natin at ‘yung PMI, nakita namin na mataas pa rin naman siya (We saw that the employment numbers and the PMI are high),” she said. “We are actually hopeful for the rest of the year but especially going forward.”

Edillon said they observed a rise in the number of jobs generated in accommodation establishments, restaurants, transportation, and the information technology – business process outsourcing fields.

She also pointed out the gradual recovery of sectors severely hit by the pandemic, especially the tourism industry, which already surpassed its targeted 4.8 million foreign visitors.

Before the pandemic, the tourism industry’s share in the country’s GDP was estimated at 12.7 percent.

Improved inflation

In the same forum, she took note of the improving inflation rate, which further eased to 4.1 percent in November from 4.9 percent in October.

Food inflation at the national level decelerated further to 5.8 percent in November 2023 from 7.1 percent the previous month.

“(M)agandang balita ito kasi, especially iyong mga food item na binabantayan natin — kunwari iyong pork meat, iyong sugar, iyong mga vegetables — bumaba po iyong presyo nitong mga ito (This is good news, especially with regard to the food items that we are monitoring – the prices of pork meat, sugar, and vegetable went down),” she said.

Edillon said the cost of rice still rose but this could be attributed to the slowdown in importation due to tightening supply in the world market.

“Iyong sa ibang mga bansa, nag-i-expect kasi sila ng impact ng El Niño. Pero ang tingin naman namin, dahil we think that they have been prepared for this so mukhang it will correct actually (Other countries are bracing for the impact of El Niño. But we think because they’re already prepared for it, it will be corrected eventually),” she said.

Still, she said she believes the price cap imposed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in September contributed to the lower inflation rate.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Are you convinced that the Philippines will be able to achieve 5

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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