PHL likely to achieve upper middle income status in 2019 —NEDA

The Philippines is likely to be an upper middle income country by next year given the economic growth in past years, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said Tuesday.

In a press briefing in Pasig City, NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon said the Philippines is likely to be an upper middle income country ahead of target.

“The target for the PDP (Philippine Development Plan) is that we will be an upper middle income country by 2022, but we think we’ll get to that status much, much earlier,” she said.

“The threshold for the upper middle income country is about 4,100 dollars (in gross national income) so I think we will breach that by as early as next year,” she said.

Under the World Bank standards, an upper middle-income country is that which has a GNI per capita of between $3,956 and $12,235.

At present, the Philippines is a lower middle income country with a GNI per capita of between $1,006 and $3,955.

Edillon said this could improve by a notch higher with the infrastructure program of the government.

Under the Build, Build, Build program, the government plans to spend over P8 trillion until 2022, largely funded by tax revenues.

This year alone, the Philippines plans to roll out 76 big-ticket projects cumulatively valued at $35.5 billion or P1.1 trillion.

“This will really propel economic growth even faster and we’ll reach that upper middle income status,” Edillon said.

“It means that our vision of being a high income country by 2040 is really within reach,” she added.

High income countries are those with a GNI per capita of $12,236 or more.

Under the six-year Philippine development plan, the country aims to be an upper middle income country by 2020, a stepping stone towards high income status by 2040. —VDS, GMA News