Positive vibes
The fear of rising prices pervades but this is offset by the expectation that consumers will again funnel money into the economy through robust spending.
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Daily TribuneThe fear of rising prices pervades but this is offset by the expectation that consumers will again funnel money into the economy through robust spending.
Share
Two years of getting shackled by the pandemic did not make Filipinos lose hope, instead, the ebullience has busted out which is, in turn, firing up the economy.
The prophets of the boom are seeing growth at a breakneck clip of between seven to eight percent a year mainly fueled by investments. The ASEAN region is being touted as the next dynamo of global development, with the Philippines said to lead the pack.
The optimism shines among those in the majority sector who are mostly considered poor although the measure of household income is not reflective of the real conditions of each Filipino family.
Outside Metro Manila where people spend only on necessities, the income of an ordinary Manila employee is fabulous money.
At least nine in 10 Filipinos expressed hope that next year will be the period of full recovery.
According to a Pulse Asia survey, conducted from 27 November to 1 December, only eight percent said they cannot say if they are hopeful or are without hope for 2023 and only 0.1 percent are without hope.
Hopeful is 94 percent of the population in the National Capital Region, 89 percent over Balance Luzon, 99 percent for Visayas and 89 percent over Mindanao.
The periodic consumer confidence survey of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also showed the same sentiment of hope being high among the low-income group, comprising most Filipinos, steady among the middle-income group and somewhat pessimistic among the rich.
Those who have less in society cited the availability of more jobs and positive development in the Covid-19 situation as reasons for their less pessimistic outlook.
The spoiler for 2023 will be high prices which will be the paradox in the recovery period with the upswing in global demand for commodities.
Businesses, however, indicated guarded optimism due to inflation, weak peso, rising costs of inputs such as raw materials and fuel and higher interest rates.
The fear of rising prices pervades but this is offset by the expectation that consumers will again funnel money into the economy through robust spending.
For the year ahead, the outlook of consumers across income groups was less favorable compared with their sentiment in the previous survey.
Nonetheless, malls are again full and cash registers are ringing which is what matters for the economy to have a sure footing for sustainable growth.
The targeted interventions primarily through the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps received priority in the 2023 budget. The scheme has been effective in freeing families from the clutches of poverty since it started during the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Knowing the extraordinary resilience of Filipinos, the vigor in facing a new year came from most families' appreciation of making it through the two-year plague intact or if a family member succumbed to Covid-19, the inspiration to overcome challenges.
Filipinos in the aftermath of the destructive pandemic have a single resolve to make life better and for the next generation, particularly the Covid babies, to never feel inadequate and unprotected.
