President Arroyo does not see the Philippines slipping into a recession despite contractions and slowdowns experienced in developed economies in Europe, Asia and the United States.
In an interview with Biz News Asia publisher Antonio Lopez yesterday, Mrs. Arroyo said the Philippines’ economic outlook remains uncertain due to the global economic crisis but the country remains resilient and among the least affected.
The country posted a 4.6-percent growth in gross domestic product in the third quarter. However, economies across the globe, including Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Singapore and other countries in Europe plunged into recession in the same quarter.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto told reporters on Thursday that with this development, the Philippines now ranks as the country with the second-highest growth in Southeast Asia.
“It doesn’t look that way (that Philippines is heading to a recession),” Mrs. Arroyo said. “At least not as far as our predictions are concerned. But as I said, I think it’s very imprudent for anybody to dare-imprudent for anybody to say that to dare to make it appear that he has a crystal ball.”
“What is important is for us to be confident that we have been able to do what we have to do to buffer our economy and to continue to work on our plans to keep the economy moving, to help give to the poor,” she said.
She said the government has put up a contingency plan as the economic slowdown in the US, the country’s biggest trading partner, became apparent.
She said the plan is basically a fiscal stimulus package where much of the public spending will go to infrastructure to promote more investments.
Mrs. Arroyo said there are also government investments in agriculture productivity “because we have to give their lift for a high price of food and investments also in energy because we have to avoid entering into a very high oil prices for our country.”
She said the infrastructure is needed because “at the end of the day, we want the private sector to continue to invest and they need infrastructure.”
Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said the government is readying a P230-billion “infrastructure war chest” under the proposed P1.4-trillion national budget for next year. This is on top of the various joint projects the government will be undertaking with the private sector, he said.