A National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) official sees 2023 growth hitting ''the low end of the target, if not close to it.''

''So, the low end of the growth target is six percent...either a six or very close to that six percent,'' said NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon told a news forum on Saturday.

“(k)asi nakita namin maganda rin naman iyong employment number natin, iyon PMI, Purchasing Managers Index nakita namin na mataas pa rin naman siya. Ano po ito, kasi parang proxy indicator din namin ito sa galawan ng mga business. So, yeah, so we’re actually hopeful about 2023,” she added.

The good thing about this year is that the country’s various sectors have started to recover from the pandemic, she said.

Among the important sectors that started to gain traction is tourism, which was hit hard by the pandemic, the NEDA official said.

Edillon said more tourists need to come into the country. Domestic tourism, she added, ''is working because of holiday economics.''

“And then, nakita rin namin na with respect to government spending, so iyong second quarter was again… Kasi nakita namin may ano din ito, may parang may learning curve ‘no, marami kasing mga bago sa gobyerno. Nakita naman natin na third quarter, nakapag-catch up din. So, we are actually hopeful for the rest of the year, but specially going forward,” Edillon said. Presidential News Desk