THE GOVERNMENT will adjust its economic targets due to inflationary and growth pressures stemming from the Middle East war, Economy Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said.
“Definitely, yes,” Mr. Balisacan said when asked if the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) will have to recalibrate economic targets at its next meeting.
“But of course it will depend on the first quarter (growth data). So that will of course help inform our decision. Those disruptions will certainly lead us to revisit the assumptions that we had about the economy moving forward,” he told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of a SEAMEO INNNOTECH seminar.
The DBCC usually meets after every release of quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) growth data, with first quarter economic data scheduled to come out on May 7.
It last met on Dec. 9, 2025 to lower economic targets to reflect the impact of the flood control scandal on business sentiment.
The government last year lowered its GDP growth targets to 5%-6% for 2026 and to 5.5%-6.5% for 2027. The previous setting had been 6-7% for 2026-2028.
Mr. Balisacan said the government is focusing on implementing measures for addressing the oil crisis.
“That’s our focus, to make sure that the assistance is provided, the support for the transport sector, vulnerable farmers and fisherfolk, for the poor and near-poor households.”
However, these measures add to the government’s burden in addressing governance issues and repairing sentiment following the flood control scandal last year, Mr. Balisacan said.
“What’s really complicated the issue, of course we are still trying to emerge from the scandal when the Middle East crisis [started]. So that adds to the challenge,” he said.
“We hope that these are temporary disruptions and we have learned clear lessons from the (flood control) scandal. We have to strengthen our governance and that’s what we’ve been pushing now. We have to ensure that the public trusts the government again.” Mr. Balisacan.
Mr. Balisacan has said that inflation could exceed 7% and slow economic growth by as much as 0.3 percentage points this year if the oil price crisis escalates further. — Aaron Michael C. Sy
