Philippine economy seen to sustain resiliency in the medium-term

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, Mar. 26 (PIA) –- The Philippine is expected to sustain strong and healthy economic performance in the medium-term.

This positive outlook was laid down in an audio-visual presentation (AVP) shown before participants of the Philippine Economic Briefing held at the Mallberry Suites Business Hotel, Limketkai Center in Cagayan de Oro City, recently.

The AVP entitled “Daylight in the Philippines: Accelerating Progress” summarizes the country’s economic performance in 2010, as well, as the prospects and policy directions for 2011.

It showed that the economy grew at sustained strong levels over the last decade posting 7.1% growth in the fourth quarter of 2010 marking the 48th quarter of positive economic growth since 1999.

The country avoided a recession in 2009 and staged a strong recovery in 2010 with a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7.3%, a broad-based growth supported by the industry and services sectors and consumption and investments.

The effective monetary policy also kept inflation rate in 2010 at 3.8%, well-within the target range of 3.5%-5.5%. Accordingly, the sound management of inflation kept domestic interest rates and money supply supportive of growth.

Moreover, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) projected inflation to stay within the target range of 3.0%-5.0% for 2011.

Meantime, gross international Reserve (GIR) expanded to a record US$62-B in 2010 and grew to US$63.5 as of end of January 2011. These growing international reserves are also supported by strong remittance flows that went up by 8.2% in 2010. (Apipa Bagumbaran/PIA-10)