Philippines maintains economic targets: Ramos<\/p>\n
MANILA (AFP): The Philippines is maintaining its economic
\ngrowth target of seven percent this year despite the battering of
\nthe peso, President Fidel Ramos said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"I do not see, as of the moment, any need to revise our
\neconomic targets,\" Ramos said in a news conference.<\/p>\n
\"We're still looking at a budgetary surplus, a single-digit
\ninflation, seven percent gross national product growth rate for
\n1997,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The peso closed at 29.30 pesos to the greenback Wednesday,
\n1.03 percent lower from a day earlier, dealers said.<\/p>\n
It was down 10.98 percent from the level of 26.40 pesos to the
\ndollar prior to the government decision Friday to allow the
\ncurrency to trade in a wider daily band.<\/p>\n
The Philippines has targeted a seven-to-eight-percent GNP
\ngrowth this year.<\/p>\n
But analysts have cautioned growth could fall short of target
\nbecause of an expected slowdown in the manufacturing sector
\nresulting from higher interest rates.<\/p>\n
Central Bank of the Philippines governor Gabriel Singson said
\nWednesday the bank raised the average inflation rate forecast for
\n1997 to 8.5 percent from 5.2 to 5.7 percent.<\/p>\n
Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo said Wednesday that the
\npeso crisis was \"fleeting\" and the situation was expected to
\nstabilize within the next \"10 days to two weeks,\" based on
\nprevious experience.<\/p>\n
\"This should not undermine our economic prospects, as much of
\nthe financial community in the world continues to see bright
\nprospects for our tiger cub economy,\" De Ocampo said.<\/p>\n
His office on Wednesday released data showing that the
\ngovernment posted a budget surplus of 4.5 billion pesos (US$155
\nmillion) in the six months to June.<\/p>\n
The finance chief dismissed persistent comparisons with the
\nThai economic woes, saying that \"in the long run,\" stable
\nPhilippine economic fundamentals will be a bulwark against
\nforeign currency speculators threatening southeast Asian
\neconomies.<\/p>\n
Overexposure by Thai banks in the overheated property sector
\nwas among the main reasons for the financial crisis there, which
\nresulted in the floating of the baht.<\/p>\n
But De Ocampo said loan exposure by Philippine commercial
\nbanks to the property sector was 10.9 percent as of end December
\n1996, compared to 13 percent for Thai banks and 30 percent for
\nThai financial companies.<\/p>\n
He said that since the peso was effectively devalued on
\nFriday, there had been \"no wild swings\" in the local currency
\nagainst the U.S. dollar.<\/p>",
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