PH ‘closer’ to attaining inclusive growth, say economic managers

MANILA – The Philippines is getting “closer” to achieving shared growth for all Filipinos as governance reforms are paying off, the country’s economic managers said on Monday.

During the Philippine Economic Briefing, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Baliscan said the improved economic performance in the first semester is an indication that the Aquino administration’s commitment to good governance promotes growth across sectors.

The National Statistical Coordination Board earlier reported that the economy expanded by 6.1 percent in the first half of the year, from 4.2 percent last year. The first semester figure is at the high end of the government’s full-year target range of 5-6 percent.

“We started the process of inclusive growth. That process has begun with reforms in institutions, reforms marked by good governance. We are going there. We are getting closer to our objective of putting in place an economic and social environment for shared growth for the members of our population,” Balisacan said.

“By 2016, we should be able to see a much more progressive and much more inclusive society,” he added.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the government’s strong commitment to good governance has resulted in increased investor confidence, which in turn could lead to more investments that would support higher growth.

“Improvements in governance will allow the country to enjoy more ‘bang for each peso’ spent by the government be it on hard or soft infrastructure. Clearly, good governance benefits the majority of Filipinos. Given this, investment grade is on our sight. Going forward, this will further strengthen the country’s economic fundamentals,” Tetangco said.

Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said the country is in a “sweet spot” since “we are basically in control of our fiscal destiny.”

“We have the fiscal space to allow us to react to any challenge posed by the global economic environment. Our debt-to-GDP ratio has continued to drop. Our total national government outstanding debt now is down to 50.5 percent of GDP. This was about 74 percent as recently as 2004. More importantly, national government outstanding foreign debt as percent to GDP continues to go down,” Purisima said.

This means the Philippines is less vulnerable from global economic and financial turmoil, he said.

Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said key to achieving inclusive growth are investments by promoting development in the countryside.

“This means we have to push very hard on SME agenda. Specifically, we have to improve on SME financing because not enough money is flowing to the SME sectors. We are trying to address that by innovative programs,” he said.

“We are also proposing a program for SME clusters next year that will definitely bring them up by one or two notches in terms of product development, product quality and product efficiency,” Domingo said.

Besides SMEs, tourism also would help achieve inclusive growth, according to Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr.

“Tourism is in fact probably one of the most inclusive industries of human kind. It is what they describe to have a trickle-across effect. In other words, it allows both the small and medium and large investors to participate. It involves generating jobs immediately on the ground. It is far and away probably the biggest opportunity to conquer poverty in the Philippines,” Jimenez said. –Darwin G. Amojelar, InterAksyon.com