While amending the economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution will attract more foreign investments, its impact on the country’s economy won’t be felt immediately, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said on Thursday, April 4.

NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan answers questions from the media during a press briefing in Malacañang on Thursday, April 4, 2024. (Photo from the Presidential Communications Office)

Speaking during the Palace press briefing, the official stressed that any impact of the proposed economic Charter Change (Cha-cha) will take time to be felt.
 

“That’s another, if we can get those amendments that we would want in the Constitution, particularly in the public services – education, I think we could achieve even more, we can get additional sources of growth,” he said.
 

“We’re counting those will come in but with respect to the amendment of the Constitution, sa (in the) lower end, tail end of the administration because even if you are able to open it now, it will take time for that to be felt because investment does not come in overnight eh, ang tagal (it’s slow),” the NEDA chief explained.
 

Balisacan provided as an example any investments in the power generation industry, saying that the gestation for such investments would take three or five years.
 

“Even if their board decides now to come in, it will take five years before they can actually operate,” he furthered.
 

The official emphasized instead the need for “sustaining the environment, economic environment, the policy environment” because “they are able to see the long term in our economy.”
 

“Kaya nga napakaimportante sa atin iyong sustainability of policies, hindi iyong forward-backward kind of thing because that does not inspire confidence (That’s why sustainability of policies is very important, not the forward-backward kind of thing because that does not inspire confidence),” he added.
 

His remarks came after the Development and Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) said the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to grow between six to seven percent in 2024.
 

This is a revision of earlier growth targets pegged somewhere between 6.5 and 7.5 percent.
 

But Balisacan maintained that even with the growth revision, the Philippines is still poised to be one of the best performing economies in the Asia Pacific region.