May 30, 2012, Manila Times
FINANCE Secretary Cesar Purisima on Tuesday lauded insights of New York City-based Moody’s Analytics Inc. on the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.8 percent for the first quarter of the year, noting that this can be attributed to the Aquino administration’s quest for good governance.
“This is one more step in our march towards investment grade, towards reducing the gap between the market rating and the credit rating, and more importantly toward a more sustainable growth path,” he said.
“The Aquino administration will continue to focus on good governance as the basis for good economics on fiscal sustainability, on macroeconomic stability and on opening up the country to business and tourism,” Purisima added.
Moody’s Analytics analyzers, in their “Asia Pacific Review” report, said that the GDP growth of the Philippines in the first quarter likely grew faster than the 3.7 percent booked in the fourth quarter last year, on the back of higher government spending.
The study further said that higher government spending helped lift growth from January to March as exports remained soft amid weak global demand.
“GDP in the Philippines likely grew 4.8 percent in the first quarter, after 3.7 percent in the fourth, increased government spending drove the acceleration, boosting domestic demand amid still-weak exports,” the Moody’s Analytics report said, pointing out that the government has stepped up infrastructure spending to encourage foreign investment and boost the business-process outsourcing industry.
President Benigno Aquino 3rd earlier said that the country’s domestic output as measured by the GDP expanded by 5.2 percent in the first quarter of the year on the back of higher government spending.
