Upper middle-income status: A smokescreen for underdevelopment
Upper middle-income status: A smokescreen for underdevelopment
By Sonny Africa
Executive Director, IBON Foundation
The country’s prospect of achieving upper middle-income status was brought to the fore again with Pres. Marcos Jr’s recent trip to the United States.
Marcos Jr claimed during his speeches before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and other side activities like the meeting with Asia Society members in New York that the Philippines is on track to “graduate to upper middle-income country status” by 2023 and become a “high-income country” by 2040.
But does getting an upper middle-income designation really mean the Philippines and its people are achieving genuine development? Or is it just another label being hyped by the new administration to project economic success while hiding a troubled economy and the millions of Filipinos still struggling and being left behind?
Comments (0)