Economist: Infrastructure, education issues, alongside Constitution, deter investors

An economist stated that aside from the economic restrictions imposed by the Constitution, issues in education and infrastructure also deter foreign investors from entering the country.

Bank of the Philippine Islands Lead Economist Emilio Neri, during a webinar at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, said that there should be an evidence-based analysis of the performance of investment climate in the Philippines.

“This narrative that the Constitution is the only thing that is keeping us from progressing and catching up with the rest of the region is a little bit exaggerated,” Neri said.

“There are many elements like the coup détats of the 80s, the many political transitions that happened during that time, and of course the lack of infrastructure, resources for education,” he added.

The country was seen to have the lowest investment rate among its neighbors, standing at 22.4 percent, based on the presentation by economist Raul Fabella.

This is in comparison with countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and China with higher investment rates, with the latter reaching between 34 percent and 50 percent in recent years.

Debates on the charter change, or the amending of the Constitution, have been echoing in both the legislative chamber as the Marcos administration wanted to limit its terms to only economic provisions to boost investments in the country.

Economic outlook

The gross domestic product (GDP) is seen to grow by 6.3 percent this year as inflation is expected to decline to four percent, Neri said.

While the economy could have grown by 5.9 percent last year if not for the lack of public spending, it may improve this year by the second half due to 2025 mid-term election-related spending.

In the same webinar, Finance Undersecretary Zeno Abenoja revealed that the Development Budget Coordination Committee is set to meet to review the growth projections by March.

“They are looking seriously at some of the challenges and if we recognize those challenges it would have to be reflected in the macroeconomic framework,” he said.

Economic projections remain standing at 6.5 to 8.0 percent for 2025 to 2028, but this was crafted years ago. “Since then we’ve seen a lot of developments particularly and externally in terms of geopolitics, geo fragmentation, changes in prospects of our trading partners,” Zeno further said.

— Xander Dave Ceballos