The Marcos administration remains optimistic that the Philippines will eventually reach upper-middle income status, according to a statement from Malacañang on Thursday.
This optimism follows the World Bank’s latest country classification, which retained the Philippines as a lower-middle income economy, despite government projections aiming for a transition to upper-middle income status this year.
“Inaamin po natin na sa ngayon ay hindi pa natin natutulay ang upper-middle income status. Pero sa ngayon, maganda naman ang nagiging progreso ng ekonomiya dahil sa gumagandang gross national income per capita simula 2024 (We admit that as of now, we have not yet reached upper-middle income status. But there’s good economic progress due to improving gross national income per capita starting 2024),” stated Palace Press Officer Claire Castro during a Malacañang press briefing.
She emphasized that the administration would continue to work toward this target despite facing global economic challenges.
When asked if the Palace remains confident about achieving this goal, Castro replied, “Yes, lagi pong positibo ang Pangulo, ang economic team, at ang buong administrasyon. So, kakayanin natin ito. (Yes, the President, the economic team, and the entire administration remain positive. We can do it.)”
The Philippine government had previously set its sights on achieving upper-middle income classification within President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s term.
The World Bank’s latest country classifications indicated that the Philippines recorded a gross national income (GNI) per capita of USD4,470, an increase from USD4,230 in the previous year.
Despite this increase, the Philippines is still approximately USD26 short of the World Bank’s requirement of USD4,496 to USD13,935 GNI per capita to qualify as an upper-middle income country.