The Duterte administration’s economic team said the Philippines will again be among the top performers in Asia this year notwithstanding the high consumer prices of late.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III told a press conference that the momentum is being sustained by policy and infrastructure reforms pushed forward by firm and decisive political leadership.He said the weakening of the peso against the dollar is a result of a wider trade-in-goods deficit, which also widened the current account deficit, putting pressure on the domestic currency. Regarding concerns on the elevated inflation, he said a that draft executive order prepared by the Economic Development Cluster was submitted for President Duterte’s signature, containing short- and long-term measures that will bring down food prices.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia for his part noted that the Philippine economy had been on a strong footing, growing by an average of 6.4 percent in the last eight years, the strongest since the mid-1970s. He added that the country’s total factor productivity (TFP) has risen sharply, close to 3 percent, now the highest in Asean.
