Balisacan dismisses possibility of PHL growing at higher end of economic goal

A Cabinet official on Tuesday dismissed the possibility of achieving the higher end of 6.5 to 7.5 percent growth target for this year despite the absence of indicators that Philippine output in the third quarter grew at a slower pace than the second quarter.

 

"Achieving the lower end of the range is still a possibility, but the upper end is now a huge challenge," Economic Planning Secretary and NEDA Director-General Arsenio Balisacan told reporters on the sidelines of 13th CEO Forum and 118th general membership meeting of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) in Makati City.

 

The administration official, however, remained optimistic towards the second half growth, saying it would be enough to reach the minimum target as efforts to decongest the ports of Manila pick up speed in tandem with the arrival of imported goods for the Christmas season – and barring any major natural disaster.

 

"The only issue is that, where in that range of 6.5 to 7.5 percent we'll be. Overall, you need 6.9 percent to achieve a 6.5 percent growth," he said.

 

In the second quarter, the Philippine economy expanded by 6.4 percent, matching that of Malaysia as the second fastest in Asia next to China, from  5.6 percent in the first quarter and 7.9 percent a year earlier.

 

Contributing to the economic expansion is a strong trade sector, solid manufacturing output and growing personal consumption fueled by remittances, the Cabinet secretary added.

 

Latest exports data showed a 10.45 percent growth to $5.474 billion from $4.956 billion a year earlier.

 

But import payments decreased by 1.3 percent to $5.491 billion in August from $5.564 billion a year earlier.

 

Cash remittances expanded by 6 percent to $2.053 billion in August from $1.938 billion a year earlier on continued deployment of Filipino workers abroad.

 

Despite such predominantly encouraging figures from government, external developments – particularly the risks – remains a concern for Philippine growth, Balisacan said.

 

"Risk from port congestion has waned. It's more on external. Europe is shrinking, but we have been shown in recent years – although some of the regions have been shaky – the Philippines remains quite stable," he added. – VS, GMA News