RP growth seen slowing down to 0.7-1.7% in 2009

MANILA, PHilippines – The country’s economic growth may slow down to a range of 0.7 percent to 1.7 percent this year, lower than the official forecast range of 0.8 percent to 1.8 percent, because of the impact of typhoon Ondoy, Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director general Augusto Santos said yesterday.

However, Santos said it was too early to revise the official forecast downward because of the continued inflows of dollar remittances from overseas Filipinos.

“Our preliminary estimate shows that the recent storm could reduce the real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in full year 2009 by at least 0.043 percentage point,” he said.

In the second quarter of the year, the economy grew by 1.5 percent, an improvement from the 0.4 percent expansion in the first three months of 2009.

The NEDA chief said the typhoon has damaged P108.9 million worth of infrastructure and crops and affected about 90,000 families as it brought a 40-year, record-breaking 41.6-centimeter total rainfall in a single day.

Santos said the previous record was 33.4 centimeters in July 1967.

Still, he said he believes dollar remittances will remain strong. “It is best not to move for now the target of 0.8 to 1.8 percent for 2009,” he said.

Remittances from overseas Filipinos rose to $1.5 billion in July from $1.4 billion in the same month last year, posting the highest year-on-year growth for 2009 at 9.3 percent, latest data from the central bank showed.

The July figures brought remittances in the first seven months of the year to $10 billion, up 3.8 percent from the year-ago level, data from the central bank also showed.

Santos also reported that the government is undertaking continuous search and rescue operations in affected areas.

It is also implementing a flat rate of P10 for fare in LRT and MRT, as well as temporary price controls on basic commodities such as canned goods, candles and batteries. –Iris C. Gonzales (The Philippine Star)