By Joann Santiago
MANILA, June 4 (PNA) — Economic and Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan is confident that the Philippine economy will recover in the coming quarters and hit the government’s 6.5-7.5 percent growth target as reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts are now in full swing.
Aside from reconstruction, the manufacturing sector is also expected to have a big contribution on domestic expansion this year with Balisacan noting that this continues to be on positive territory in the first three months of 2014.
With the 5.7 percent expansion in the first quarter of the year, the domestic economy has to post at least 6.8 percent in the next three quarters to hit the full-year target.
Asked on his take on this, Balisacan, who is also the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary, said this is achievable with the contribution of reconstruction and manufacturing.
”Our country has grown faster than that before…Specially as we get our recovery, reconstruction efforts going up on stream and all these projects coming in and the private sector to be quite aggressive,” he told reporters at the sidelines of the 1st EU-Philippines Business Dialogue in Makati City Wednesday.
Impact of Typhoon Yolanda is expected to still remain but Balisacan said this is diminishing.
The NEDA chief explained that impact of the typhoon was not concentrated in Eastern Visayas alone because of supply chain factor, wherein supplies like food and construction materials intended to other areas were diverted to the devastated areas because of its needs.
He, however, stressed that this is temporary as things have partly normalized.
”We expect that kink should have settled down now. There are still lingering effects but is not as heavy now as during the first quarter,” he said.
Some local government units (LGUs) affected by the typhoon have submitted their rehabilitation and reconstruction programs during the cabinet cluster meeting in Cebu City last May 30.
The reconstruction programs will be included in the rehabilitation program that will be submitted by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation & Recovery (OPARR) to President Benigno Aquino III.
These programs are expected to address needs of the devastated areas and help them recover and contribute again to the economy’s growth.
Similarly, the impact of the El Nino phenomenon and the truck ban in the City of Manila are negative factors on growth but Balisacan said measures are now being put in place to limit the negative impacts of these factors on domestic growth. (PNA)