Growth rate on target, says new Neda chief

National Economic Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan is congratulated by President Benigno S. Aquino III shortly after taking his oath in Rizal Hall, Malacanang Palace.LYN RILLON

The new National Economic Development Authority (Neda) chief expects economic growth for the first quarter of the year to be within the government’s target range.

Neda Secretary Arsenio Balisacan told reporters in Malacañang on Wednesday that the government was hoping the first quarter growth would be 5 percent to 6 percent.

“We hope every quarter is within that range,’’ Balisacan said.

Balisacan took his oath of office before President Benigno Aquino III in the Palace on Wednesday.

Told that the President was expecting a growth of 5.2 percent for the first quarter, Balisacan, a former dean of the University of the Philippines School of Economics, said: “It’s around that. The private sector forecast is close to that.’’

Robust spending

He said the growth could be attributed to “quite positive’’ remittances and exports as well as “quite robust’’ spending.

“As you have seen from the press releases of the various companies, the increases in profits were all high rates in the past year,” Balisacan said. “We hope that continued in the first quarter.’’

There was also no major calamity in the first three months of the year, Balisacan said.

He said that while the government started implementing its infrastructure projects early this year, it still needed to “make a big push’’ with these projects, as Thailand did 10 to 15 years ago.

He also said that the government’s 7 percent to 8 percent economic growth target for this year was “doable’’ except that it needed to deal with “bottlenecks,’’ such as building more infrastructure and transport projects.

As for inflation, Balicasan said this would be “quite tame’’ and be within the government’s forecast of 3 percent to 5 percent.

No major shocks

“I’m not foreseeing any major shocks,’’ Balisacan said, noting that world oil prices were falling.

Balisacan said he did not see the new, tighter inspection rules in China for Philippine banana exports affecting the country’s economy much.

While banana is a “very important’’ industry in Mindanao, he said, it makes up only a “small portion of the total value added’’ because the major sectors are rice, corn and coconut.

But if the standoff between the Philippines and China over Scarborough Shoal worsens, he said, the country will feel its impact on the economy.

“My position there is we really need to diversify,” he said. “That has been our problem for a long time.’’

Balicasan said he would join a meeting between President Aquino and the banana growers Thursday for a discussion of the problem.