RP economy grows 4.6% beating expectations

RP economy grows 4.6% beating expectations

Associated Press, Manila

The Philippine economy grew 4.6 percent last year in its strongest performance since the Asian financial crisis, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Thursday.

The figure beat economists' forecasts of 4 percent to 4.5 percent and jumped from 3.2 percent in 2001 on the back of growth in services, industry and agriculture, officials said.

"In fact it is the strongest economic performance since the 1997 Asian economic crisis. This growth must now be translated to social equity," Arroyo told reporters after announcing the figures.

Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said 5.8 percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2002 helped boost the full-year figure.

Arroyo has said she will make the economy her priority in the remaining year in office. The 55-year-old economist, who took office two years ago after mass protests ousted her predecessor Joseph Estrada on corruption charges, said last month she will not run for president in 2003 elections.

A ballooning budget deficit, which hit a record high 212.7 billion pesos (US$3.9 billion) in 2002, unemployment at more than 10 percent and poverty have hampered government's efforts to improve the economy.

Last week, Arroyo launched an anti-corruption campaign, calling on Filipinos to report tax evaders and expose fraud. She also announced additional funds to improve revenue collection, which is blamed for the deficit.

Arroyo said Thursday the government will stimulate investment in the agricultural sector with small and medium enterprises and improve housing by easing access to housing finance.

The country's gross national product expanded 5.2 percent in 2002, after rising 3.4 percent in 2001, Arroyo said.