The Philippine economy grew at its fastest pace last year since democracy was restored more than two decades ago, expanding 7.3 percent on the back of a global upswing, the government said Monday. The growth is a fillip for President Benigno Aquino's new government as it seeks to attract more foreign investment and enable the long underperforming economy to catch up with its fast-developing Asian neighbours, analysts said.
The National Statistical Co-ordination Board said one main reason for the strong performance - coming off growth of just 0.9 percent in 2009 - was the rest of the world recovering from the global financial crisis. Extra money that was pumped into the economy as politicians campaigned for national elections in the middle of the year, as well as higher remittances from the millions of Filipinos working abroad, also helped, the board said.
The 7.3 percent full-year GDP expansion was the highest since at least 1986, when dictator Ferdinand Marcos was toppled in a peaceful revolution, according to the board. It did not give economic growth figures prior to 1986, before which different growth measures were used.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.