President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Thursday said the government will ramp up public spending to recover lost economic momentum and restore investor confidence following a slump in key economic indicators.
Speaking at a press conference in Malacañang, Mr. Marcos acknowledged that the Philippine economy experienced a downturn in recent months, citing the impact of recent typhoons, global trade disruptions, and climate-related work stoppages.
“The reason that we had that is that there really was a downturn in economic activity,” President Marcos said.
“You have to remember it’s not only because of these problems, the typhoons, the lost working days because of climate change,” he added.
The President noted that the peso recently fell to an all-time low, third-quarter gross domestic product growth slowed to 4 percent, and the Philippine Stock Exchange Index slid to levels last seen during the pandemic.
He stressed, however, that the slowdown is part of a broader global trend, as countries continue to grapple with what he described as a “new trade structure” reshaping the world economy.
“We are not the only ones suffering the shocks,” he said.
“All economies are adjusting, and growth rates are falling worldwide,” the president added.
To mitigate the impact, Mr. Marcos said his administration is accelerating government spending to stimulate economic activity and offset the losses incurred during the third quarter.
“Public spending will be increased to make sure that by the end of the year, the levels of public spending are according to our original plan,” the President said.
“We will recover what we lost in the third quarter,” he added.
The government earlier announced that infrastructure projects under the “Build Better More” program would be fast-tracked, alongside additional support for agriculture and climate resilience initiatives, as part of its fiscal push to boost domestic productivity.
