Photo Release

Pimentel challenges PCED: Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, during Wednesday’s hearing October 5, 2022 on the 2023 proposed budget of the Philippine Center for Economic Development (PCED), challenges the agency to review and explain why the Philippine exchange rate continues to weaken and the power of US dollar is getting stronger over other currencies in the world. “I am considering your agency to be the specialist, in the sense that you are not subscribing to one particular school of thought, but you are empowering your graduates…We should have people who are willing to think outside of the box,” Pimentel said. PCED Executive Director Maria Joy Abrenica vowed to do their best as an agency tasked to strengthen research, primarily related to economics, and increase the supply of economic technicians in the bureaucracy. PCED is asking an additional P28.6 million to its P27 million budget for 2023. (Voltaire F. Domingo /Senate PRIB)