President Marcos convened his economic team on Tuesday, Oct. 18, to determine and formulate the administration’s economic policy directions for the rest of the year until the first quarter of 2023.
The President and the economic team had discussed issues affecting the country such as inflation, interest rates, and foreign exchange.
"Earlier in the meeting with the Economic Team, we discussed policy directions for the rest of the year and the first quarter of next year," Marcos said.
He said the number one priority "is still inflation."
"We will continue to use interest rates to mitigate the effects," he said.
"We may have to defend the Peso in the coming months, but the overall forecast is that we are still doing better than other countries in terms of inflation, though economic developments are still anticipated," he added.
Included in the economic team are the secretaries of finance, trade, budget, public works and highways, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) chief and the head of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
According to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, who also heads the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), said while the Philippines "cannot escape the effects of these global headwinds," the administration is "mindful of these challenges."
He said they discussed short-term challenges "pertaining to the current inflation, exchange rate and interest rate" during the meeting.
They also tackled how the government can assure the people that it is on track in achieving its short-term and medium-term goals.
"Of course, we are looking at these short-term issues, the continuing inflation, and ensuring that as we address these short-term issues, we are mindful that we’ll not abandon the medium-term goals ‘no and we will make sure that we are on track toward economic recovery. So, yes, the intention is to address this inflation, particularly providing assistance to the most vulnerable groups by continuing the subsidy programs that are currently extended," Balisacan said.
Through the Medium-Term Fiscal Program and Philippine Development Plan (PDP) framed by the 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda, Balisacan said the government has developed critical policy and legislative priorities to address the economy's short-term and medium-term issues in the next six years.
"The PDP's targeted completion before the end of the year assures us that we will have a robust roadmap for navigating short-term challenges and uncertainties," Balisacan said.
The NEDA director-general said the PDP contains strategic actions to quickly address constraints in the country's food, energy, and transportation systems.
He further said that the plan shall include measures to strengthen the economy's foundation for more and higher-quality job creation by addressing the most binding constraints to business investment and expansion in growth drivers such as manufacturing and agriculture, tourism, IT-BPOs, construction, and the creative industries.
During the meeting, Marcos also appointed Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno at the helm of his economic team.