One year into office, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is yet to deliver “substantial” progress on his promises to improve the Philippine economic situation. But the administration’s economic managers stay optimistic that the country “remains firmly on track” toward post-pandemic recovery.
Of the 19 bills Marcos enumerated in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July 2022, Congress has not passed the bills on budget modernization, passive income and financial intermediary taxation, valuation reform, and government financial institutions unified initiatives to distressed enterprises for economic recovery, which had been identified as priority measures by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).
Marcos also struggled to meet the medium-term targets for inflation, foreign exchange rate and national government debt.
Inflation hit 8.7% in January, the highest recorded since November 2008, and slowed down to 5.4% in June. The average peso-dollar exchange rate in 2022 was P54.47, depreciating by 9.59%, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. As of May, government debt has climbed to P14.10 trillion, which is about 62.1% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Some of Marcos’ most controversial economic decisions, however, were absent from his inaugural SONA.
For example, the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill was heavily criticized particularly on the initial provisions that included pension funds–Social Security System (SSS) and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS)–as primary funding sources. (Read VERA FILES FACT SHEET: The Maharlika Investment Fund explained)
While the government’s economic team deemed the MIF as a “vehicle for economic growth,” economists from the University of the Philippines Diliman described it as “still beyond repair” for having unclear goals and “vague” financial and economic returns. As of July 6, the measure was submitted to the president for signature.
(Read VERA FILES FACT SHEET: Unpacking Maharlika Investment Fund’s urgent legislation)
Meanwhile, Marcos’ recent designation of Larry Gadon as anti-poverty czar drew flak from advocacy groups. One day after his appointment, the Supreme Court unanimously disbarred Gadon for his repeated profane and misogynistic remarks against journalist Raissa Robles.
Find out more about how the president fared in his 15 promises on the economy here:
