|
By Darwin G. Amojelar Reporter
The Philippine economy may have
grown at a faster pace in the first half of the year owing to
election related spending and an expanding services sector, a group
of economists said Wednesday.
In a report, the Institute for
Development and Econometric Analysis Inc. (IDEA) projected that the
economy, as measured by the country’s gross domestic product
(GDP), may have expanded 6.6 percent in the first six months of the
year compared with 5.1 percent in the same period last year.
IDEA said services, which remain
the main growth driver at 49 percent of GDP, grew 9 percent, while
industry and agriculture expanded at 4.6 percent 2.6 percent,
respectively.
On the demand side, personal
consumption expenditure rose 6.1 percent, while government spending,
investments and exports grew 9.4 percent, 4.4 percent and 9.5
percent, respectively.
IDEA attributed the decline in
the farm output to weak crop growth, which was hampered by a
prolonged dry spell in various parts of the country.
Communications, retail trade and
private services boosted the service sector, while industry was
helped by mining whose prospects are bright as investments continue
to pour in.
“Manufacturing growth expected
to be flat [with] top performers to include food, furniture and
fixtures, [whereas] decline [is] seen in tobacco [and] electrical
machinery,” IDEA said.
IDEA’s forecast supported an
earlier estimate made by the National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA), which said that election related spending, a
robust stock market and the services sector would lift the economy.
In a separate briefing,
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA Director General Romulo L.
Neri said the government is confident of meeting the 6.1-percent to
6.7-percent growth goal this year.
The department projected that
agriculture this year would grow by 3.9 percent; industry, 6.4
percent; and services, 6.7 percent.
“We expected that agriculture
output to meet our target of 3.9 percent growth this year, despite
the prolonged dry spell,” Dennis Arroyo, NEDA planning and policy
director, said.
The Department of Agriculture
projected that the agriculture to grow between 4 percent and 5
percent this year.
Govt to develop additional
land for yellow corn
The agency said Wednesday that it
will develop additional land for yellow corn in the Visayas and
Mindanao by year-end.
In a statement, Assistant
Secretary Dennis B. Araullo said that the agency will expand the
land planted to corn by 46,000 hectares, adding more than 61 percent
of it had been planted in the first six months of the year.
Araullo said that most of the new
areas will be in Capiz, Iloilo, North Cotabato, Maguindanao,
Zamboanga del Sur, Aurora, Negros Occidental, Palawan and Ifugao.
Araullo said the initiative comes
on the heels of rising demand for the commodity.
The agriculture department
projected demand for the entire year would reach 4.6 million metric
tons.
--With Chino S. Leyco
|
