5-year average growth best since 1970s: Philippines primed for inclusive growth

MANILA, Philippines – The best five-year economic expansion since the Marcos era puts the Philippines in a position to tackle the challenge of making growth felt by the poor, the chief economist of the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

“Inclusive growth will continue to be a pressing socio-economic issue,” Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said in an economic bulletin yesterday.

“To sustain economic growth, more investment in infrastructure such as in power and transportation should be mobilized,” he added.

A little more than a quarter of Filipinos are considered poor despite growth hitting 5.8 percent last year, among the fastest in Southeast Asia, separate data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.

The 2015 growth figure, although slower than projected and lower than in 2014, brought the five-year average to 6.2 percent and capped what the Aquino administration said was the best economic performance since the late 1970s.

Beltran said foundations are set to make growth more inclusive or be felt by a larger population.

“The Philippines (are) among those that have the strongest growth prospects,” he said.

“Strong macroeconomic fundamentals – such as wider fiscal space and tamed inflation – provide authorities room to maneuver in countering economic shocks,” he added.

The manufacturing sector has also been robust, Beltran said, helping create more jobs for unskilled workers, especially to micro-, small- and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

MSMEs account for 97 percent of firms operating in the country.

Aside from this, government social programs – such as conditional cash transfers (CCT) – should continue to be expanded to provide safety nets to the poor.

“The country has already laid out the foundations of micro-finance and micro-insurance and has expanded the CCT program, made possible by a larger fiscal space,” Beltran said.