“The productive capacity that we had wanted to happen was muted by all this corruption.”
“It’s just so shocking to see how extensive it was,” said Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.
AMID THE ONGOING probe of massive corruption in government flood control projects, the Philippine economy logged a 4-percent growth in the third quarter of this year that is way below expectations.
In a press briefing on Friday, Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said he was also shocked at how extensive corruption is in the government, affecting gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the third quarter.
“The productive capacity that we had wanted to happen was muted by all this corruption,” he said.
“It’s just so shocking to see how extensive it was,” Balisacan added.
He said that the government took steps aimed ataddressing anomalies in government infrastructure projects and the effects of weather disturbances on economic activities, among others.
However, he admitted that the latest GDP growth rate “reflect and affect consumer and business expectations and provide a clear signal for the government to act boldly and decisively.”
“While we may not be able to fully recover the economic losses within the year, we believe these are temporary setbacks. With sustained interventions and improved resilience, we expect the economy to rebound in 2026,” he added.
POSITIVE OUTLOOK
Nonetheless, Balisacan is maintaining a positive outlook on the economy, citing the strong macroeconomic fundamentals, such as low inflation environment, manageable fiscal deficit and public liabilities, stable currency and external balance, and stable banking sector, along with a good demographics.
Balisacan also underscored the seasonal uptick of demand in the last quarter of the year, which boosts economic activities, and the resilience of inflows from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), which fuels domestic spending.
“But my own take is that if we can get at least to the fives, that would be a very good achievement given the shocks that we’ve not anticipated and that had happened,” he added,
With the measures that are in place, the DEPDevchief said, economic performance for the last quarter of this year is expected to be better.
“And so, moving forward, especially for next year, we should be able to come stronger,” he added.
