Our economy on edge

THE announcement yesterday that the country’s GDP grew by 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter came as a pleasant surprise, and could be considered generally good news. The consensus of most analysts before the data were released was that growth in the last quarter would be rather modest, about 5.8 percent; the actual results exceeded expectations, and thus, are a positive outcome.

Nevertheless, there are definite signs that our economy, while certainly not in bad shape, at least in the context in which national economies are compared with one another, is facing risks that are starting to have a negative impact. And in this sense, the government – both the one that we must still tolerate for another five months, and the one that will replace it – should be reminded that in the wake of the positive Q4 result, a strategy to deal with rapidly dimming economic prospects is far more important than a strategy to broadcast self-congratulations for having “one of the best economies in Asia.”