Arsenio Molina Balisacan (born November 8, 1957) is a Filipino economist and academician currently serving as the Secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

[7] He additionally served as the Director-Chief Executive of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA),[7] during a period of secondment from the university.

Balisacan also served as a research fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu and an economist at the World Bank in Washington, DC prior to joining the UP faculty in 1987.

When their nun relative convinced his father to take on a janitorial job in Laoag City, however, his family had to make the difficult choice of leaving their farm life behind.

[10] From his primary-school days all the way to his journey during post-graduate studies, Balisacan had to rely on scholarships, grants, and part-time employment for financial support while his family struggled.

What she had in abundance was deep respect and love by her people, unblemished credibility, and genuine concern for the poor.” [11] Just when their family began to experience more financial struggles, Balisacan's eldest brother graduated from Divine Word College, equipped with an Accounting degree.

Balisacan, however, who was an Agriculture scholar at the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) at the time, was left to stay behind in Batac, Ilocos Norte.

He was named as one of the 100 outstanding alumni at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), (College of Economics and Management) (CEM)’s centenary.

He was chairman of the board of academic advisors of the Asian Institute of Management's Center for Bridging Societal Divides (August 2009 to 2012) and member of the policy advisory council of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (June 2009 to May 2012).

His accomplishments at SEARCA is summarized in his exit report titled, "Mainstreaming Agriculture in the Development Agenda" Back at UP, in 2010, Balisacan was appointed dean of the School of Economics at the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPSE).

As dean, he concurrently served as executive director of the Philippine Center for Economic Development and chairman of the UPecon Foundation Inc. Balisacan held these academic posts until he was seconded from UP to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) when Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III asked him to serve as NEDA Chief.

[13] Secretary Balisacan was tasked to address the critical constraints that make economic growth slow, uneven, and exclusive to certain segments of the Philippine society.

)[7] At these key positions, Secretary Balisacan was able to influence policies, programs, and projects to facilitate inclusive economic growth, employment creation, and poverty reduction.

Recognizing the importance of maintaining the momentum, he and his senior colleagues in government work on crafting a forward-looking agenda, (Ambisyon Natin 2040), which articulated a vision for an inclusive and prosperous Philippines (See Foreword, Preface, and Chapter 1 of R. Clarete, E. Esguerra, and H. Hill, 2018, The Philippine Economy: No Longer the East Asian Exception?, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies).

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