DOF: Possible to reach single-digit poverty rate by 2028

ACCORDING TO the Department of Finance’s Finance Undersecretary and chief economist Domini Velasquez, the government is currently on track to attain a single-digit poverty rate by 2028. 

This statement was made at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

She continued to say that, by the end of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s administration, the poverty rate would be below 10 percent and in single digits.

She also mentioned that the current unemployment rate was at 3.1%, a significant decrease from the pre-pandemic record of 5.1%.

In an article from the Inquirer, it can be found that for the past 30 years, save for 1998, 2009, and 2020, the Philippine economy has been experiencing consistent growth, with the average growth clip at 6.42%, excluding 2020.

They add that, at present, the Philippines is the second fastest-growing Asian economy, with the first being Vietnam.

Last year, the credit rating agency Rating and Investment Information Inc. also raised the country’s credit rating to an “A-” as compared to its previous “BBB+.”

In the past, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian has also stated that the country’s poverty rate fell to 15.5% in 2023 from the previous 18.1% in 2021. He adds that this is a good indicator so far of the anti-poverty programs of the DSWD.

One of these programs includes the DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), a national poverty reduction strategy and human capital investment program that aids Filipinos by offering conditional transfers to poor households.

Another is their Food Stamp Program: Walang Gutom 2027, which aims to help 1 million households considered to be “food poor.”

In 2022, President Marcos Jr. promised to grow the country’s economy and slash the poverty rate to single digits. He aims for the current administration to decrease the poverty rate to at least 9%.

About the poverty rate

The OECD explains that the poverty rate is the ratio or percentage of the population with an income that falls below the poverty line. 

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) explains that, in the Philippines, a family that has five members needs at least PHP 13, 873 per month to meet their minimum basic needs in 2023.

The PSA found, in 2023, that the national poverty incidence among families was at 10.99%, which was equivalent to 2.99 million Filipinos with insufficient income to meet their basic needs on a day-to-day basis.

The DSWD adds that, in 2023, 15.5 % of Filipinos – 17.54 million – were poor in 2023.