The Philippines’ 5.6-percent economic growth for the whole of 2024 may be lower than the government’s target but still makes the country one of the “fastest-growing” economies in the Asia Pacific region, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said Thursday.

Pangandaman issued the statement, as she welcomed the latest Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) report which showed that the Philippine economic growth settled at 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, bringing the full-year growth to 5.6 percent.

“While our target for 2024 is 6 to 6.5 percent, the results still put the Philippines among the fastest-growing economies in the Asia Pacific region, outpacing many of our ASEAN neighbors, and still propelling our desired economic transformation,” she said.

Pangandaman emphasized that the country faced economic challenges last year, including a record-breaking typhoon season, with six consecutive storms between the end of October and the middle of November.

She said the onslaught of the recent typhoons in the fourth quarter of 2024 “greatly affected the economy.”

“The fact that we still hit 5.6 percent in spite of all these storms shows that our formula for growth is working,” Pangandaman said.

Pangandaman, who also chairs the Development Budget Coordination Committee, said the Build Better More Program is also working, as construction was the biggest contributor to both the economic growth for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2024, which were at 7.8 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively.

Pangandaman said the government will stay focused to make sure that it is on track with its Agenda for Prosperity.

“For the upcoming years, we remain dedicated to implementing priority programs and strategies aligned with our 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda and the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028. Through these efforts, we anticipate fostering a favorable and resilient macroeconomic environment that will sustain our progress toward growth in the medium term,” she said.

“Moving forward, we will ensure that all the necessary support is in place to further boost our GDP growth and pursue our Agenda for Prosperity,” Pangandaman added.

The DBM said its push for a more efficient budget utilization saw positive results after Government’s Final Consumption Expenditure posted the highest year-on-year growth rate of 9.7 percent.

DBM Principal Economist Joselito Basilio said the government’s efforts to address underspending issues, provide sufficient budgets to programs with the highest multiplier effects, and intensify efforts to advance the country’s infrastructure systems have helped sustain the country’s economic growth.

Basilio noted that as the GDP remained steady, Gross National Income grew year-on-year by 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, bringing the full-year 2024 growth to 7.6 percent. (PNA)