Prioritizing investments in the education sector will help the Philippines achieve faster growth and development, an economist said on Friday. In a Viber message to the Philippine News Agency, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said a highly educated workforce will help the country to achieve the upper middle-income status. "The formula to become one of the biggest economies in the world includes large and young population, provided that the working age population becomes highly educated and eventually highly productive in the workforce to have more income, spending power, consumption, and reduce poverty, all of which [will] support faster economic growth and development, in line to become one of the largest economies in the coming decades," Ricafort said. He pointed out that one way to do this is to put more focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses in the educational system. He said this will help attract more high industries to position the country as an alternative to developed countries or at the higher end of the global supply chain. Aside from education, Ricafort said priority government expenditure items that will speed up economic growth and development include infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture and other social services especially the subsidies for the poorest of the poor to reduce poverty incidence and ensure boost in productivity. "[Higher growth is] also possible with higher productivity in the agriculture, manufacturing by harnessing the best technology available and based on global best practices," Ricafort said. The Department of Budget and Management earlier committed that the proposed 2024 national budget will continue to focus on priority sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture, health, and education. The proposed national budget for 2024 amounts to PHP5.768 trillion which is equivalent to 21.8 percent of the country's gross domestic product. It is also 9.5 percent higher than this year's PHP5.268 trillion budget.
Source: Philippines News Agency
