Upbeat No. 02.26.14 nn No. 2103 10.30.2008
PHL economy seen growing 7.4% in 2014 The Philippine economy is expected to grow by 7.4% this year as reconstruction efforts take place in Typhoon Yolanda's affected areas. The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is seen to go up because of “robust services sector” and the potential advancement of the lined up public-private partnership (PPP) projects, University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) Economist Victor A. Abola said. The main factor for 2014 GDP growth would be the reconstruction and rehabilitation in the Visayas region, which can account for over 1% of the GDP.
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“Reconstruction [of Yolanda-stricken areas] is a major factor . . . one year, over 1%. Without it, we would only be growing 6-% to 6.5-%,” Abola said.
For his part, First Metro Investment Corporation (FMIC ) President Roberto Juanchito Dispo believed that aside from increased reconstruction efforts, the 7-% growth will come from rebound of the United States (U.S.), Europe, and Japan markets, and the increase in business process outsourcing (BPO) activities and overseas Filipino (OF) remittances. Notwithstanding the uncertainties the country experienced last year, it was still the best performing economy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), highlighted by the investment grade status it received from the three major credit rating agencies namely, Fitch Ratings, Standard and Poor's, and Moody's. The FMIC’s 2014 forecasts were also based on the 6%-7% growing remittances from OFs who will send more money to their families affected by Typhoon Yolanda, 3.8%-4% manageable inflation, 6%-10% improving exports, and 8%-12% improving imports. FMIC Assistant Vice President Bede Lowell Gomez projected that domestic consumption would be at 5%of GDP, and infrastructure at 3.5% of GDP per government program. Foreign direct investments (FDIs) would go up by 33% while manufacturing output would increase by 12% compared to the actual growth in the first nine months of 2013, Gomez added. The active and gaining sectors for 2014 include property and infrastructure, consumer, gaming, and manufacturing. n