Amid accelerating inflation and subdued global markets, National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan expressed openness to revising this year's economic growth target downward.

Balisacan said that the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), an inter-agency body tasked with assessing macroeconomic targets, plans to review the assumptions for this year in the coming week.

“So there is a good case for revisiting the assumptions. We don't have yet those first quarter results and that's what would be a factor that we would have to consider,” the NEDA chief told reporters on the sidelines of the signing of implementing rules and regulations for the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act.

“But even if we set it from the range of 6.5 to 7.5 percent, which is what we did, to six to seven percent, that's still to us, a good range. And achieving 6.5 for the year would be a remarkable achievement compared to at least what we are seeing in most countries in Asia,” he added.

Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto earlier said that a 5.8 percent to 6.3 percent target band for gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2024 projected by multilateral institutions would be more realistic.

“Multilateral organizations affirm the strength of the Philippine economy. They are expecting us to maintain our position as a frontrunner in ASEAN with a projected GDP growth of 5.8 percent to 6.3 percent in 2024,” Recto said.

This range, however, is below the DBCC’s current target of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent for 2024.

Balisacan also said that the revision of the economic target takes into account factors such as the El Niño drought and the lag effects of interest rate hikes.

The readout for the February inflation rate quickened to 3.4 percent after a four-month slowdown due to a continuous increase in rice prices which can be attributed to the phenomenon.

Meanwhile, the Philippine economy fell short of attaining the Marcos administration’s target of six percent to seven percent, only growing by 5.6 percent in 2023, down from 7.6 percent in the previous year.

On the other hand, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas retained interest rates at 6.5 percent to safeguard price stability, but economists and market analysts anticipated that the central bank will reduce its key rate in the second half of 2024.