Philippines to have 'slow rebound' in 2010

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will have a “slow rebound" in 2010, expanding slightly than this year’s growth expectations, the World Bank said. The country is expected to grow by 2.8 percent in 2010, higher than the 1.9 percent forecast for this year, World Bank senior economist Eric Le Borgne said during a Tuesday press briefing in Manila. Despite higher growth, the Philippines will still emerge slowly from the crisis, compared to other countries. "We see the rest of the world could be emerging more rapidly out of the recession than what we are projecting for the Philippines," Le Borgne said. “We see economic activity moving faster than labor market development, which will likely weaken to 2010. The economy is not that much exposed to exports as other countries in the region. Consumption is the main driver; we don't see a very sharp rebound in labor and remittances." As electronics corner 60 percent of the Philippine exports, this can be a "downside" for the country as it is one of the sectors China could be moving further in the production chain. In a video conference from Tokyo, lead economist Ivailo Izvorski said China will grow faster than most countries in the world this year at 6.5 percent including all countries in developing East Asia. "China’s contribution to global incremental output has surpassed that of the US since 2007 and is now the largest in the world, underpinning the country’s role as a key pole of global growth during the current financial and economic crisis," he added. For his part, World Bank regional chief economist in East Asia Vikram Nehru said China has the "incredible capacity" to mobilize all institutions, including central and local governments as well as its entire banking system, unlike the US. "The US financial system continues to be in a difficult situation. Therefore, credit is simply not growing," he said. "Any stimulus package in the US will have a very modest or limited impact on households, companies and banks," Izvorski added. - GMANews.TV