Thank you, Marichu, for having me. To everyone present here today, magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat.

I’m sure we are all looking forward to the Q&A portion, so I’ll keep my statement brief.

We are moving in the right direction. At may mga datos po tayong magpapatunay nito.

We are on track to meet our fiscal program for the year, having already achieved half of our targets.

As of mid-year, total revenues grew double digit by 15.6% to 2.15 trillion pesos.

The BIR and BOC have stepped up with higher collection performances through digitalization and strict enforcement, growing tax revenues by 10% to 1.84 trillion pesos.

Non-tax revenues recorded a 63.3% growth, totaling 314.2 billion pesos.

This is mainly due to higher dividends from GOCCs because we hiked up their remittance rates to 75% from 50% to scout for more resources without imposing new taxes on our people.

Our robust revenue performance placed us among Asia’s top revenue-to-GDP ratios at 15.3% for the first quarter of 2024.

Our fiscal deficit stood at 613.9 billion pesos, way below the mid-year target. As a percentage of GDP, it remains very manageable at 4.5% in the first quarter of the year.

And we continue to manage our debt according to the highest standards of fiscal discipline. As we are very vigilant not to max out the Philippine national credit card.

Majority, or 68.3% of our total borrowings, are in Philippine pesos. Kaya hindi po kayo dapat mabahala, dahil ang utang na ito, galing po sa sarili natin.

Ibig sabihin, karamihan ng interes na ating binabayad ay napupunta rin lang bilang dagdag na kita ng ating mga kababayan.

At kung mukha mang patuloy na lumalaki ang ating utang ngayon in nominal terms, patuloy naman na mas lumalago ang ating ekonomiya. Ibig sabihin, kayang kaya nating bayaran ang ating mga obligasyon.

Kung ating titingnan ang debt-to-GDP ratio ng Pilipinas, unti-unti na po natin itong naibaba mula noong pandemya.

Mula sa 60.9% noong 2022, bumaba na ito sa 60.1% noong 2023. We are determined to continue pushing it below 60% so we have enough buffer in case another crisis hits us.

And we are using debts to spur our stronger economic recovery by investing heavily in more infrastructure and human capital development projects, which have the highest multiplier effect on the economy.

Ginagamit po natin ito sa tamang paraan para mas palaguin ang ekonomiya upang lumikha ng mas maraming trabaho, magbigay ng mataas na kita para sa ating mga kababayan, at makakolekta ng mas maraming pondo para sa mga programa ng ating pamahalaan.

Nagsimula na nga rin po ang deliberasyon para sa 2025 national budget na 6.35 trillion pesos na makakapag hatid ng mas maraming benepisyo para sa taumbayan.

So, to sum it up, we are on track with our fiscal consolidation plan under the refined Medium-Term Fiscal Framework that reduces our deficit and debt gradually in a realistic manner; while creating more jobs, increasing our people’s incomes, and decreasing poverty in the process.

And we are making good, steady progress on our economic goals.

Despite all these geopolitical tensions, the economy has grown at an average of 6.1% since President Marcos, Jr. took office. This is among the fastest in the region.

Inflation remains manageable. Pansamantala lamang ang pagtaas ng inflation rate nitong Hulyo dahil sa tinatawag nating base effect sa presyo ng bigas.

Dahil para masukat ang pagbilis o pagbagal ng pagtaas o pagbaba ng presyo ng mga bilihin, inihahambing po natin ito sa presyo ng mga bilihin noong Hulyo ng nakaraang taon kung saan hindi pa masyadong tumaas ang presyo ng bigas.

Nevetheless, inflation will stabilize and fall within our target for the rest of the year as government interventions take full effect. It is expected to settle at 3.3% in 2024 – way below the global average of 5.9%.

Our unemployment and underemployment rates are at historic low levels. We have 50.3 million Filipinos employed to date and 63.8% of them are engaged in formal and stable jobs—ibig sabihin, mas lumalaki ang ating middle class.

We recently achieved an all-time high gross national income per capita. This bodes well for our goal of reaching an upper middle-income country status by 2025. Ibig sabihin nito, makakaasa tayong mas tataas ang kabuuang kita ng bawat Pilipino.

At ang pinaka-importante sa lahat, naiangat po natin sa kahirapan ang mahigit 2.5 milyong Pilipino noong 2023. Kaya bumaba ang ating poverty rate sa 15.5%.

Kung maiaangat pa natin ang sampung milyong Pilipino mula sa kahirapan sa susunod na apat na taon, maaabot natin ang target na pababain ang poverty rate sa 9% by 2028.

At gaya ng palagi kong sinasabi, ito ang pinakamahalagang numero na nais naming maabot.

Dahil bale wala lahat ng ginagawa namin ngayon kung wala naman itong hatid na pagbabago sa buhay ng mga Pilipino. That is our core mantra.

And with that, I am now ready to answer all your questions. Maraming salamat po.