President Marcos on Thursday convened his economic team alongside the leaders of both Houses of Congress to discuss how the administration’s priority projects for next year will be funded.
They were joined by Senate President Francis Escudero and House Speaker Martin Romualdez in threshing out crucial economic matters even as the administration tries to navigate growing political tensions.
The meeting, held in Malacañan Palace, sought to decide what key infrastructure, food security, and business climate improvement projects would be prioritized in the 2025 national budget.
After the meeting, Trade and Industry Sec. Ma. Cristina Roque said the executive branch is now “in sync” with Congressional leaders in achieving the government’s socioeconomic goals.
She also expressed optimism about new foreign investments, following the S&P Global Rating’s affirmation of the Philippines’ “BBB+” credit rating and outlook upgrade from “stable” to “positive.”
“This high credit rating will really encourage a lot of confidence for the international investors to come into our country and, so far, there is a lot of interest in our country,” the Department of Trade and Industry chief said.
For his part, Socio-economic Planning Sec. Arsenio Balisacan said they intend to ensure the Philippine government remains on track to achieve the economic goals and targets under the Philippine Development Plan.
“The President stressed and we all agreed, and the leadership of Congress agreed, that we need to ensure that the projects of this administration in relation to the high priority projects pegged at achieving the goals and targets in the Philippine Development Plan, are achieved,” he noted.
“Overall, the agreement is all these projects, particularly those that have been committed by our development partners, our ODA [official development assistance] sources… these projects that are so critical in achieving the socio-economic transformation that we will be aiming for will be funded in 2025,” Balisacan added.
He added that it was “business as usual” at the Palace despite the President’s worsening rift with Vice President Sara Duterte, emphasizing that the administration is presently more concerned about keeping the economy’s growth momentum.
“I don’t think that these political noises will have any impact on the economy, but what is important is our economic policies, the policy directions are sound and sustained,” the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief emphasized.
He said that the Marcos government is focused on making sure the country’s economic momentum is sustained.
Balisacan said the administration is determined to achieve an “A” credit rating within the next 24 months after S&P cited the administration’s effective policymaking for improving the country’s credit metrics.
However, the NEDA chief said there remain external uncertainties that could pose a threat to the domestic economy.
“With respect to other developments in the world, Trump Presidency coming in, with threats of high tariffs, and the possible responses of other countries to such tariffs, if they materialize, of course, they pose other uncertainties for us,” he explained.
He pointed out that the Philippines can better protect itself against such shocks if it can continue to diversify its economy and strengthen its fundamentals.
