Palace vows to raise PH economy to upper middle-income bracket

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Thursday vowed to double government efforts to elevate the Philippine economy to the upper middle-income bracket.

At a briefing, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the administration remains committed to its goal of achieving this status before the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ends in 2028.

“The government will still double its efforts so that we can reach our goal of transitioning to upper middle-income status,” she said.

READ: Philippines remains stuck in lower middle-income group

This statement followed the World Bank’s latest country classification results, which showed that the Philippines remains in the lower middle-income bracket — a classification it has held since 1987.

The classification means that the country is among the group of economies with gross national income (GNI) per capita between $1,136 and $4,495, as calculated using the Atlas method for fiscal year 2026.

The World Bank Group annually categorizes global economies into four income levels — low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high — based on the previous year’s GNI per capita. These designations are updated every July 1.

A country’s income classification reflects its stage of development and can shape its overall growth path.

It also determines eligibility for official development assistance and concessional financing. /das

(2025/07/03-16:06)