2013 PHL output to exceed 7% — NEDA's Balisacan

The Aquino administration is confident the economy could breach its growth goal for the year, banking on a strong services sector and a likely uptick in manufacturing and consumption, the Philippine economic chief said Wednesday. 

 

"It would be better than the targeted 6 to 7 percent," Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan told reporters at the sidelines of the Global Development Network conference at the Asian Development Bank headquarters, referring to the 2013 gross domestic product (GDP). 

 

Balisacan, who is also NEDA (National Economic Development Authority) director general, said the services sector will stay robust and buoyed by tourism and business process outsourcing and industries. 

 

"Continued growth" in private and public construction and manufacturing expansion will also support output for this year, he added.

 

Economic growth in the second quarter is "going to be good" as economic fundamentals remain intact, the economic chief said. 

 

In March to June, the threats to growth may stem from a lag in agriculture due to typhoons and monsoon rains. 

 

"A lag in one quarter will be a growth in the other,” Balisacan, however, said. “So, gains will even out," he added.

 

The economy grew by 7.8 percent in the first quarter, the fastest in Asia, on consumer and government spending as well as higher investments in construction and durable equipment, National Statistical Coordination Board data showed. — VS, GMA News