Economy last year not fun to many—Pulse Asia

The economy was no fun for many Filipinos last year.

About half of them believed that the economy stagnated, but more than a third said that it worsened, results of a Pulse Asia survey released Monday showed.

“If you compare the state of the national economy now with that of last year [2010], would you say that the state of the national economy is better, same or worse now?” Pulse Asia asked 1,200 Filipino adults nationwide between Nov. 10 and Nov. 23, 2011.

Forty-five percent of the respondents said they believed that nothing  changed in a positive or negative way, a figure lower than the 54 percent recorded in October 2010.

However, 38 percent said the economic situation worsened, up from 16 percent, while 18 percent said it improved, 12 percentage points down from 30 percent in October 2010.

Those who said that nothing changed consisted of big pluralities to small majorities (46 percent to 52 percent) in Metro Manila, Luzon outside Manila, the Visayas and Class E.

Close to half of those from Classes ABC (47 percent) and D (43 percent) believed that the economy stagnated. But in Mindanao, more than half of the respondents (57 percent) said that the economy turned for the worse—a view shared by 38 percent in both Classes ABC and D.

Stimulus package

Reacting to the results of the survey, Malacañang said it was working to improve the country’s economic conditions.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Palace would like to see “those numbers go down which is why, we’ve hit the ground running for 2012.”

She was referring to the P72-billion stimulus package that President Benigno Aquino III released in October last year to step up government spending and perk up the economy.

The government did badly in spending its money during the first half of last year because it was scrutinizing government projects that were contracted during the Arroyo administration.

Strongly felt

Among those who believed that the economy deteriorated, 66 percent said they “strongly felt” it, an experience shared by majorities across all geographic areas (56 percent to 74 percent) and socioeconomic classes (55 percent to 72 percent).

At the national level, 31 percent were “somehow” affected, and 3 percent did not feel the impact of the deterioration.

Of those who said the economy improved, 60 percent said they “somehow” felt its impact. Majorities in all geographic areas (51 percent to 71 percent) and among Classes D (63 percent) and E (56 percent) also felt the impact.

Nationwide, 25 percent said they “strongly felt” the economic upturn, while 15 percent did not feel it at all.

The noncommissioned survey used face-to-face interviews and had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points at the 95-percent confidence level. Lawrence de Guzman, Inquirer Research and Christine O. Avendaño