Opening up of the Philippine economy towards greater normalcy was the key accomplishment of the Marcos administration in its initial year in office, an economist said on Saturday.

“The key highlight of accomplishments of the administration has been the reopening of the economy towards greater normalcy,” Michael Ricafort, the chief economist of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), said in a media forum in Quezon City.

According to Ricafort, the Marcos government also started investing into the future with its goal of becoming a middle-income status country in the next few years.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many global banks were predicting that the Philippines would become a big economy by 2050 and beyond, he said.

The key element, Ricafort said, is the country’s huge population.

“Kasi po ang Pilipinas, isa sa pinakamalaking… well, pagdating sa populasyon – one of the biggest in the world—12th biggest in the world, that’s more than 110 million Filipinos. Iyon po ‘yung key ingredient, kumbaga iyong key requirement,” the economist explained.

“So iyon po ‘yung common doon sa mga bansa na iyun na maaaring mag-dominate in the coming decades…(year) 2050 iyong cutoff.”

To attain that goal, however, the country’s economy has to be productive and must have a well-educated work force, Ricafort said, noting more than half of the current Philippine population since 2015 is within the working age.

Out of the total population, more than 50 million Filipinos are already of working age, Ricafort said, adding the average age is less than 25 years old, which makes the country’s economy productive.

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