Friday, July 18, 2008 Neda remains bullish for ’08 as Q1 figures turn positive
LOOKING at first quarter figures, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) 7 is optimistic that economy of Central Visayas will turn out to be “positive.”
Neda 7 Assistant Director Efren Carreon said the economic planning office is hopeful that—given the flow of investments in the area of information and communication technology (ICT), tourism and real estate industries—economic growth in the region will be sustained until the end of this year.
Neda’s first quarter report shows that the Board of Investments (BOI) registered six new projects in mass housing, resort development, transportation and manufacturing, amounting to more than P700 million.
At the Mactan Economic Zone, investments for the first quarter reached P1.35 billion, surpassing the previous year’s P1.27 billion.
Construction
The report also cited ongoing “upbeat” construction projects, such as Palazzo Uno, a nine-storey condominium developed by Viranclava Realty in Cebu City, the P500-million modular fabrication facility project of Metaphil Inc. in Balamban, Cebu,
and the P500-million renovation project of SM City Cebu.
Neda also noted that both peak demand and energy sales increased by 4.95 percent and 5.48 percent, respectively, as a result of the “continued expansion” of the regional economy.
The agency assured that the two 100-megawatt coal-fired power plants that were constructed in Naga City starting February will be operational by February and May in 2011 and thus, be able to meet the demand for electricity in Central Visayas.
“Investment-wise, we’re okay. We hope to have this continued until the year ends,” Carreon said.
He added that even data from the Bureau of Customs show that that the export industry is recovering from the rapid appreciation of the peso since total export earnings and volume of exports in the region increased by 74.1 percent and 28.8 percent, respectively, for the first quarter.
Forex
Neda noted that the increase in value is partly due to foreign exchange. Between the first quarter of 2008 and 2007, the peso appreciated by 15.7 percent on the average.
Carreon also disclosed that most of the region’s exports were electronics and business process outsourcing services.
Neda is now targeting August to release the consolidated results of sectoral performance in the second quarter.
However, Fernando Fajardo, an economics professor of the University of San Carlos, argued that there are not enough investments in the country that would encourage Filipinos to work here.
He also questioned the strategy of encouraging more Filipinos to work abroad, even though the remittances of overseas Filipino have helped reined in the country’s trade deficit.
According to the National Statistics Office, the Philippines had a trade deficit of P5 billion in 2007.
“A Filipino produces a lot outside but only gets his wage. But if he works here, he does not only get his wage, he also contributes other things like employment and (utilization) of raw materials,” Fajardo said. (NRC)
