Attaining long-term growth now crucial

CEBU, Philippines - As Asean economies integrate into one market, achieving high and long-term economic growth has also become crucial for nations.

And for the most part, high productivity is one factor in determining the competitiveness of a country.

An official from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said the Philippines and the Visayas region in particular have been working to achieve high productivity in agriculture, industry and services sectors.

However, Deputy Director Teresita B. Deveza of BSP’s Department of Economic Statistics stressed this enhancement initiative remains to be a big challenge for the region, private sector and government.

During an economic data presentation in Cebu Friday last week, Deveza pointed out that Visayas should put its attention on its regional labor situation -- and that is, while unemployment rate generally decrease, underemployment also broadly increase. 

Government data has showed that as of April this year, Western Visayas has the highest unemployment rate at 7.1 percent from 8 percent last year; jobless rate in Central Visayas has gone down to 5.9 percent from 6.4 percent in 2013; and Eastern Visayas’ rate has increased to 6.2 percent from 5 percent a year earlier.

On the other hand, underemployment rate in WV has slightly dropped to 21.2 percent as of April this year from 24 percent in 2013; CV’s rate has risen to 19.5 percent from 15.5 a year earlier; and EV’s unemployment has reached 25.7 percent from 20.8 last year.

In a recent interview, Employment Consultant Dr. Mathea M. Baguia of Cebu’s Public Employment Services Offices said the jobless problem can be attributed to the disparity between business demands and the existing talent pool.

Jobs mismatch is one great factor why jobless rate remains high despite many job vacancies in various industries, she said.

In its Regional Development Plan 2011-2016 for Central Visayas, the National Economic and Development Authority said the region should address low productivity and lack of opportunities for productive employment to achieve high growth.

The plan said productivity and job generation are crucial to drive the region’s growth.

Visayas’ contribution

The Visayas had a 12.6 percent share to the full year growth of the nation’s gross domestic product last year. In 2013, the regional GDP of Visayas expanded to 6 percent from 5.6 percent a year earlier.

The deputy director noted the region has largely contributed to the national economy in the fields of agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing. The size of outputs of its industry and services sectors is almost as big as that of Mindanao.

In the field of financial resources, the central bank reported that as of March this year, the number of bank branches in Visayas has increased; while bank head offices have reduced.

The region has a total of 1,300 banks which include universal and commercial, thrift, and rural and cooperative. This number is quite higher compared to last year’s 1,224. In addition, it has 125 head offices – lower than 131 in 2013.

“Financial resources continue to improve in 2013 with wider bank presence, higher bank deposits and more loans granted,” she added.

The BSP official also reported the business confidence has stayed upbeat in Western and Central Visayas in the second quarter of this year.

“Ang business sentiment sa region seven continues to be bullish po talaga in the second quarter than the unfavorable situation in the third quarter kasi expected po talaga that it will slow down business,” Deveza further explained.

The outlook of the industry, construction and services sectors in WV is more upbeat; CV’s business sentiments across sectors are more positive, except for the services sector.

Visayas’ population is growing but at a slower rate compared to that of the entire country.

The 2014 official population projection of the Philippine Statistics Authority has showed the region has the lowest population at 19.1 million among the three island groups.

The biggest population in CV is in Cebu at 2.83 million, excluding the cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue.

“Population growth is also one indicator of economic growth kasi hindi ka naman gusto mamuhay sa lugar kung walang kabuhayan doon,” she explained. “Kung taas ang population sa lugar, pupunta ka doon kung saan may economic prospects para sa mga tao.”

The DES also said growth areas in Visayas include Metro Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Aklan, Leyte and Tacloban City. Leyte, Tacloban City and even the northern part of Cebu were badly devastated by super typhoon Yolanda last year.

The region’s economic growth accelerated in 2013, mainly driven by the industry sector. While economists and government officials have always said the country is in the period of rapid economic growth, the high incidence of unemployment and poverty has indicated the growth of the economy is still far from being inclusive.  (FREEMAN)