IMF okays RP GNP target

IMF okays RP GNP target

MANILA (AFP): The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has endorsed a 5 percent Philippine gross national product (GNP) growth target for 1999 to follow a 3.0 percent expansion for 1998, a Filipino official said Friday.

The GNP targets were among key figures to be supported by Manila in hopes of obtaining a two-year, US$1.6 billion standby loan from the IMF, Finance Secretary Salvador Enriquez told reporters.

Philippine economic officials concluded talks earlier this week with an IMF mission that was evaluating Manila's compliance with conditions underlying a three-year, 684 million-dollar IMF extended fund facility.

Central Bank of the Philippines governor Gabriel Singson said Wednesday that the mission is to recommend to the IMF board in Washington next month Manila's exit from the three-year program on March 31, along with the standby loan which the government described as a precautionary arrangement in light of the Asian financial crisis.