RP economic report dubbed "unrealistic"

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu business sector dubbed the rosy prospects and 2008 economic report bared by the administration’s economic team as “unrealistic.”

President Gloria Arroyo’s economic team, led by the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Department of Finance (DOF), was in Cebu last week for its annual economic briefing to report the country’s last year performance, and dished out their plans to keep the Philippine economy afloat.

However, the seemingly “okay” report failed to convince Cebuano businessmen.   

Cebu Business Club (CBC) president Dondi Joseph said that “they should have presented the real situation with real and serious plans to help the economy.

 “They [economic team] are being unrealistic I believe. Interest rates are increasing, exports dropping, the world economies collapsing and investors’ confidence dying. They need to wake up, face the problems and with the private sector strategize and help provide solutions,” Joseph said.

Meanwhile, the presentation of NEDA-7 regional director Marlene CA P. Rodriguez that conveyed that the region remains attractive to investors despite the crisis, stirred reactions as the recent survey result done by the Cebu Economic Advisory Group (CEAG) revealed otherwise.

CEAG, which is the recent project of the CCCI, recently released a survey result of weakening investors’ confidence in Cebu, a survey done across all industry sectors.

CCCI vice president for external affairs Clarito Fruelda said that NEDA’s presentation on sustained investors’ confidence may not be based on the existing investors, but from impression of the foreign investment community, who do not have the first-hand experience on the actual business climate in Cebu.

Some businessmen interviewed by The Freeman said that they have stopped attending government-initiated economic briefing as it will only present the good side and its achievement, while avoiding to confront the real situation.

Among other programs presented by different government agencies, like the Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), BSP and DOF, Cebu business sector was more interested in the rolling out of the P330 billion Economic Resiliency Plan (ERP), or its version of the Stimulus Package.

Aside from the P330 billion “Stimulus Package” the Economic Team also announced the availability of P1 billion funds to aid exporters through the Export Development Council (EDC).

Banking on the promise made by the DBM secretary Rolando G. Andaya Jr., to release the budget directly to the end-user, seriously scrapping the “bureaucratic red tape”, Cebuano businessmen expressed hopes that this will not end-up as “empty-promises.”

“It’s good that they have found out ways on how to protect the country’s economy, specially in floating the P330 billion stimulus package, but we still have to see if they are serious in this, and will “walk the talk,” said PhilExport-Cebu chairman Allan Suarez.

Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) past president Robert Go also said that in this desperate times, the private sector has no way to go but to hold on to the “promises” being made by the government, hoping against hope that this time they will fulfill their promises of helping the economy at the same time minimizing the threat of “corruption” that is feared to ruin the ERP’s sole purpose.

Both Go and Suarez said that the private sector will closely monitor how the government will “play the game” especially in disbursing the ERP budget, making sure that it will not land on someone else’s pocket. – THE FREEMAN