Following the below-target economic expansion in 2024, President Marcos’ chief economic manager expressed confidence in the 2025 national budget, serving as the administration’s protection against risks. 

“The P6.326 trillion national budget for 2025 is the government’s most powerful tool to counter risks and deliver the biggest growth and economic benefits to Filipinos,” Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph G. Recto said in a statement released on Thursday, Jan. 30. 

Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the government missed its growth target of 6.0 percent to 6.5 percent as full-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth settled to an average of 5.6 percent. GDP grew by 5.2 percent for the last three months of 2024.

This is the second time the Philippines has fallen short of its economic target. However, despite this shortfall, the DOF asserted that the country remains a frontrunner in ASEAN in terms of economic growth, and also ranked eighth among the 46 countries worldwide.

“This is despite external and local challenges such as extreme weather events, geopolitical tensions, and subdued global demand,” Recto noted. 

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman likewise noted that the six consecutive typhoons in the last quarter of 2024 “greatly affected the economy.”

“The fact that we still hit 5.6 percent in spite of all these storms shows that our formula for growth is working,” Pangandaman emphasized.

With this, the DOF’s outlook for 2025 remains bullish citing lower inflation and increased consumption and investments.

“We remain optimistic about our outlook for 2025. A lower inflation rate gives us more room to ease interest rates, which will further boost consumption,” Recto said.

Meanwhile, the DOF cited major domestic and external risks for this year, “including weather disturbances, extreme natural disasters, an acute and protracted global economic slowdown in major economies, ongoing geopolitical tensions and conflicts, trade wars, and protectionist trade policies, especially in the US.”

Recto, however, expects the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) Act to “effectively position the Philippines as a key investment destination under the Trump administration.”

This would attract “more investments from companies diversifying their locations,” thus maintaining the country’s position relative to other countries in the region.