VARIOUS economists in the financial markets and academia said that they see nothing wrong with conducting a review of macroeconomic growth targets under the government’s medium-term fiscal framework (MTFF).

They said that it is not disconcerting as it merely points to the policy-makers’ openness to factor in more recent developments.

Earlier, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto made a disclosure to the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) that they are evaluating the MTFF goals so as to incorporate foreseeable effects of a protracted Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Israel-Hamas war, and other developments that might impact broad economic goals.

According to veteran market analyst Astro del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Finance, the finance chief did not signal pessimism because periodic reviews of economic targets are indicative of responsive governance and may even be welcomed by investors.

He also pointed out that economists in the financial and capital markets have always taken a more conservative stance in relation to the growth targets set by the Department of Finance (DOF) and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

“Yes, we have considered the government’s economic growth forecasts… and it is widely believed that the upper end of these forecasts is somewhat optimistic anyway. I think the market will be satisfied with hitting the lower end of the band. Besides, they are only reviewing the targets… there is no certainty they will adjust it downward,” he added.

For his part, Carlos Manapat, chair of the economics department of the University of Santo Tomas, noted that such move is not out of the ordinary for the administration’s economic team to recalibrate its policy to stay ahead of developments in two to four years.