Philippine GDP Growth Hits 31-Year High

Manila, Philippines (AHN) - The Filipino economy continues to flex its muscles as Manila reported its gross domestic product came in at a 31-year high of 7.3 percent. The positive growth across all sectors of the Philippine economy, once known as the sick man of Asia, has sustained the past few years despite political turmoil.

Romulo Virola, Secretary-General of the National Statistics Coordination Board, explained, "In an environment of benign inflation, low interest rates and a strong peso, the Philippine economy turned on its best performance in 31 years."

Astro del Castillo, director of the Association of Securities Analysts of the Philippines, said growth was higher than what was expected by many Filipinos, used to being cellar dwellers of the region.

The other positive news was that the Philippines' gross national product even grew by a larger 7.8 percent from 6.1 percent in 2006. The healthy GNP was fueled by remittances sent regularly by 8 million overseas Filipino workers and expatriates.

Economists, however, cautioned that 2007's record high growth may be difficult to duplicate in 2008. Cielito Habito, former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary, said he expects 2008's GDP to range between 6.7 percent to 7.3 percent.

Habito told BusinessWorld, "The sustainability of the growth momentum hinges on the government's capacity to keep up with its infrastructure projects until 2010. To do this, the government must have durable recurring income and not one-time gains to finance these projects."