The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) revised upward its Gross National Income (GNI) estimates in the first quarter, but retained the GDP growth print for the period at 6.4 percent.
In a statement on Wednesday, a day before the PSA officially releases the second-quarter growth data, the agency said GNI growth in the January-to-March period grew higher at 6.2 percent, from the initial 5.9 percent.
“The PSA revises the GDP estimates based on an approved revision policy, which is consistent with international standard practices on national accounts revisions,” the agency stated.
The higher GNI could be due to the upward revision in the estimate of the Net Primary Income (NPI) from the rest of the world to 5.4 percent, from 3.9 percent.
The PSA explained that the GNI is computed with the GDP and the NPI. This means GNI stands for the sum of all goods and services produced in and outside the country in a given period of time. The GNI is important, particularly in terms of the goal of the Duterte administration to make the Philippines an upper middle-income country.
The government aims to increase the country’s per-capita income to around $5,000 a year, from $3,580 annually, as of 2016.
This target, according to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia, could be reached by the end of 2018, four years ahead of the original target date, which is 2022.
Pernia said that assuming the country could grow its GNI at 5 percent per annum, per-capita income could just be short of a dollar or two by the end of 2018.
Increasing per-capita income nationwide will require the Philippine economy to grow by 50 percent under the plan period. Under the original target in the PDP, poverty incidence could decline to 14 percent in 2022, from 21.6 percent in 2015.