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Govt says 7% economic growth possible in '07


The government's commitment to grow the economy by 7 percent this year is possible through infrastructure spending, Presidential Chief of Staff Joey Salceda said Tuesday. The Development Budget Coordinating Council has set a target of only 6.1-6.7 percent Gross Domestic Product growth for the country in 2007. The 7 percent growth Salceda mentioned, is President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s promised figure to the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The economy grew 5.4 percent in 2006. Speaking in a lunch with the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP), Salceda said that 7-percent growth this year is "numerically possible." "Infrastructure spending has jumped from P79 billion in 2006 to more than P1 trillion in 2007," Salceda said. He said that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is about to sign the 2007 General Appropriations Act Wednesday, a huge chunk of which is dedicated to spending for the infrastructure of the "super regions" infrastructure that groups the country into four growth areas. Salceda added that the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has identified 30 sectors that would push growth in 2007. The President has vowed to grow the economy by 8 percent in 2008 and by another 9 percent in 2009. Salceda said moving to a higher growth trajectory would be easier than expected, as shown by the experience of the country’s regional counterparts. “Thailand has already recovered 50 percent of what they lost in the Asian Financial Crisis. We have recovered only 14 percent of what we have lost," Salceda said.- Patricia de Leon, GMANews.TV

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