Govt maintains economic growth target — Paderanga

Despite the better-than-expected economic performance of the Philippines last year, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is not raising its projection for the country's gross domestic product growth for this year. The Philippine economy is seen to grow by 7-8 percent this year, according to the country's fiscal managers. Last year, the country posted an annual economic growth of 7.3 percent, the fastest growth since 1976, when the economy expanded by 8.8 percent. NEDA director-general Cayetano Paderanga Jr. said that even though last year's growth was above the 5-6-percent projection, "there are factors that would be no longer present this year." One of them was election-related spending. Paderanga pointed out that last year's economic growth target was "easier to attain" than this year's. "But we have not given up on that," said Cayetano, who also serves as Socioeconomic Planning secretary. Government reforms in the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs would come in "sooner than later," Paderanga added. Over the next six years, the Aquino administration is looking forward to a sustained strong economic performance. "This will be built on strengthened partnerships with the private sector," Paderanga said last Monday. "In order to further expand the economy's productive capacity and provide enough opportunities for a sustainable and inclusive growth, government efforts shall be directed towards an integrated infrastructure program that will support the productive sectors and redound to substantial benefits to society," he added. — JE/OMG, GMANews.TV