President Duterte has formally appointed Karl Kendrick T. Chua as socioeconomic planning secretary as well as head of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
One-year after serving the positions in an acting capacity, Chua is now officially the government’s chief economist and development planner.
Chua, a former official in the Department of Finance (DOF), was appointed as acting NEDA director-general after former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia stepped down from office in April last year.
Prior to joining the government, Chua served as senior country economist of the World Bank for the Philippines. He was with the Washington-based multilateral institution for 12-years from 2004 to 2016.
In the DOF, he was undersecretary for the Strategy, Economics, and Results Group where he led the team that worked on the passage the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.
Chua was also critical in the passage of legislation increasing excise taxes on “sin” products, such as tobacco, alcohol, and e-cigarettes.
Chua completed his master of arts in economics in 2003 and doctor of philosophy in economics in 2011 at the University of the Philippines.
He was also assistant professorial lecturer of mathematics and economics at the Ateneo de Manila University, where he also completed his bachelor of science in management engineering in 2000.
Likewise, Chua was consultant for several local and development partner-funded projects in the area of economic and fiscal policy.
Chua was named one of the 10 Outstanding Young Men and Women (TOYM) in January 2019 by the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Philippines