By Leslie D. Venzon
Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) hit a two-year high of 7.1 percent in the third quarter of 2012, the fastest economic growth within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Indonesia came in second with 6.2 percent, followed by Malaysia (5.2%), Viet Nam (4.7%), Thailand (3%) and Singapore (0.3%). China, however, posted a 7.7-percent GDP growth during the period.
“We are well on our way to surpassing our growth target of 5 to 6 percent this year,†Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said in a press briefing Wednesday. He expressed optimism the country would post a much higher growth of 6 to 7 percent.
Third-quarter economic figure brought the
average GDP for the first three quarters of the year to 6.5 percent from measly 3.9 percent last year.
Balisacan believes that the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals can contribute to the resiliency of the Philippines to global economic uncertainty.
“These do not prevent us from moving forward,†he said, referring to the problems in the Euro area and the looming fiscal cliff in the United States.
Balisacan noted that the economic expansion continued to be broad-based, as almost all sectors posted higher year-on-year growth rates.
He said services that grew 7 percent accounted for the lion’s share of the GDP in the third quarter at 58 percent. This was mainly led by trade and real estate.
Balisacan, also the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director general, attributed the industry sector’s 8.1-percent expansion to robust growth of the manufacturing sector.
“We hope that the industry sector would expand much faster. In particular, we hope to see a faster growing manufacturing sector,†he said. “We are counting on a growing manufacturing sector to provide the higher quality jobs that are also more stable and remunerative.â€
The agriculture sector, on the other hand, performed better during the third quarter than in the previous quarters, growing by 4.1 percent from 2.2 percent last year.
The rebound of the net primary income from abroad by 4.9 percent pushed the gross national income (GNI) to 6.6 percent in the third quarter from last year’s 2.2 percent.
With this robust economic growth, Balisacan believes that government’s efforts at good governance are beginning to bear fruit.
“But we know that our task is far from over. We continue to reform our systems in procurement and budgeting to
promote transparency and accountability,†he said.
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