Saturday, September 06, 2008 Palace sees improvement in RP’s economic growth
MALACAÑANG is expecting the country’s economic growth to recover during the last quarter of the year as the prices of food and fuel in the world market start to stabilize.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said the people are spending their money wisely focusing more on basic necessities rather than luxurious items which contributes to the slowdown in economic growth and eventually the 17-year high inflation rate of 12.5 percent last month.
“The slowdown in our economic growth is the direct result of the public’s reaction to the market. People tend to spend wisely and use their resources to spend important things rather than the luxury. We expect growth to recover as fuel and food prices stabilize in the last quarter,” she said.
She added that the government, through the Department of Trade and Industry, has been implementing several programs to help stabilize the prices of prime commodities which include close coordination with manufacturers and retailers “to keep the prices at reasonable levels and publish guide prices of basic and prime commodities whenever necessary for the information and guidance of the consumers.”
She said the Philippine International Trading Corporation has also been empowered to intervene aggressively in the importation of prime commodities while the National Government is continuously implementing its infrastructure program and other economic activities “to create more opportunity for our people to get jobs and earn more thus increasing public expenditure and investment.”
The inflation rate for August hit 12.5 percent which is slightly higher than the 12.2 percent inflation rate last July.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said they foresee that the price pressures may have already peaked which means its tightening campaign could be drawing to a close. (JMR/Sunnex)
