Fil-Chinese business group sees bright 2024

The president of the organization of Chinese-Filipino businessmen which have been doing business for decades in the country remains optimistic about the country's economic growth in 2024, which is the year of the Wood Dragon based on the Chinese Zodiac.

"We will move forward despite all our problems. This is because Filipinos are good in all that they do. We are resilient," said Dr. Cecilio Pedro, president of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc., an umbrella organization of over 170 Filipino Chinese chambers of commerce and diverse industry associations nationwide.

Asked for his gross domestic product growth forecast, Dr. Pedro declined to provide saying he is not privy to the previous GDP record.

Despite this, he said there is so much to move forward from, particularly the ongoing tensions in the West Philippine Sea and taming the fluctuating inflation rate.

Tame inflation

"What is important is to address the different relationships with our Asian neighbors, including China, as well as Korea, Japan, and the United States that are friendly and are willing to help us. Secondly, we have to tame inflation because it is unstable. And inflation will go down if there is enough production, as supply should be greater than demand for prices of goods to go down," Dr. Pedro, who is also the president and chief executive officer of Lamoiyan Corporation, said.

According to World Bank projections, the country's GDP is expected to moderate to 5.6 percent in 2023 from 7.6 percent in 2022.

Despite the downturn, the country is projected to post the highest growth in comparison to its neighboring countries.

The multilateral agency also estimates a growth of 5.8 percent for the year 2024.

Growth assumptions

Further to this, the Philippine government has laid down their growth assumptions of a 6 to 7 percent GDP growth rate for the rest of 2023, while a 6.5 percent to 8 percent economic growth is expected from 2024-2028.

Meanwhile, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said inflation in December may settle within the 3.6 to 4.4 percent range.

"Higher prices of rice and meat are seen as the primary sources of upward price pressures in December.

Meanwhile, lower prices for agricultural items such as vegetables, fruits and fish along with lower electricity rates and petroleum prices are expected to contribute to downward price pressures," the BSP said in a statement on Friday.