Economy

THE Philippines’ weak economic growth may persist until the first semester of the year because of the El Niño phenomenon, according to economists.

The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) is upbeat that the economy is now slowly recovering, citing the upward trend in almost all leading economic indicators (LEI).

MANILA, Philippines–The economy, gauged using the leading economic indicators (LEI) index, continued to slide for the sixth consecutive quarter in October to December, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine economy is forecast to grow by a more respectable 3.8 percent this year, driven by election-related spending and a continued construction boom, top economists said yesterday.

Leading indicators point to an economic recovery in the fourth quarter of 2009, but the impact of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng restrained the pace of expansion in the last three months last year.

THE Philippine economy may have slowed down further in the fourth quarter of 2009 as the composite leading economic index (LEI) contracted at its fastest pace in nine years, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) said.

I’ve been arguing for a long time now, without much success I must admit, that the traditional methods of measuring an economy miss the most important factor: People. And with Christmas just past and a new year starting, now is a good time to think of people.

The Citigroup sees the Philippine economy growing 3.7 percent this year, driven mainly by election spending, higher exports growth and inventory restocking.

MANILA, Philippines – In the wake of a global economic crisis that brought the Philippines to its knees, the country is one with the world in looking forward to a recovery in 2010. And the year’s main event—the national elections—can’t come at a better time.

MANILA, Philippines – Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. believes that the Philippine economy was left relatively unscathed by the “financial crisis” that led to a global economic slump.

MANILA, Philippines – Each Filipino now owes P47,039 to local and foreign creditors, based on the national government’s total debt stock as of September. A month before that, each of the 92.2 million Filipinos owed P45,889.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is faring better than most emerging economies and would be able to achieve its 2009 growth targets despite the lingering global recession, Malacañang said yesterday.

BAGUIO CITY: Increased spending and higher remittances from Filipino workers abroad would offset a projected cut in the country’s economic output, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief said Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine economy, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), may grow by as much as four percent in 2010 along with the global economic recovery, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Nine out of 10 Filipinos welcome the New Year with hope rather than fear, according to a recent survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

MANILA, Philippines – The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is preparing a new Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan, the government’s economic blueprint, with measures on climate change adaptation high in the agenda.

MANILA, Philippines – The government is confident the economy would grow by at least 0.9 percent in the fourth quarter of the year, which would bring full-year growth to at least 0.8 percent, the lower end of the official target range of 0.8 percent to 1.8 percent.

MANILA, Philippines – Singapore-based DBS Bank Ltd. sees the economy growing faster at 4.8 percent next year from the scaled down rate of one percent on the back of strong consumption brought about by robust remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

MANILA, Philippines – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has revised downward its growth outlook for the Philippines this year to one percent, from an earlier forecast of 1.6 percent, citing that the economy “performed even worse than expected” in the first nine months.

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) forecasts that the Philippine economy will slow to 1 percent this year as damages wrought by typhoons Ketsana and Parma dampen consumption.  

MANILA, Philippines – The Congressional Planning and Budget Department (CPBD), the think-tank of the House of Representatives said it is maintaining its revised economic growth forecast for the year despite the weaker-than-expected 0.8-percent economic growth for the third quarter.

MANILA, Philippines – The impact of typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” doused consumer confidence in the country as revealed by the grim economic outlook in the fourth quarter of the year and the first quarter of next year, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) deputy governor Diwa Guinigundo said.

MANILA, Philippines – The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in a new study on poverty, warned that unless the Philippine economy is able to shift to higher growth trajectory, the country might be “stuck in a poverty trap.”

AS the Philippines strives to attain higher growth to cut poverty and increase incomes of Filipinos, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) published study showed that the cycle of poverty will likely continue in the Philippines and prevent the country from attaining its desired economic growth in the future.

The Philippines has graduated from a low-income country category to the lower middle-income country category, making it eligible for a multimillion-dollar grant from the Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC), the Department of Foreign Affairs reported Thursday.

In the faint hope that presidential candidates may listen, I will suggest a few goals that they should commit to if they become president. They should do so through a publicly-signed, notarized document, now, so we know they are committed.

MANILA, Philippines – Global investment bank Goldman Sachs said the Philippines performed better than most of the next 11 emerging economies (N-11) during the global crisis. “Within the N-11, Indonesia and the Philippines have positively surprised,” Goldman Sachs said in its latest Global Economics Paper.

MANILA, Philippines – Global banking giant Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) said it expects 2009 to be a good year for the bank and for the Philippine economy, adding that 2010 will be an even better year as economies worldwide emerge from a crippling recession in 2010.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines and other major export-led economies are expected to experience substantial recovery next year, according to the United Nations.

MANILA, Philippines – American banking giant Citigroup said the lower-than-expected economic growth registered in the third quarter of the year gives monetary authorities leeway to maintain its current policy stance.