Malacañang welcomes increased business optimism for PH

Malacañang on Saturday welcomed the results of the Central Bank’s Business Expectation Survey, which showed an increased confidence among local firms on the country’s economic prospects.

In an interview with state-run Radyo ng Bayan, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the recent development would hopefully result in more investments in the country and sustained economic growth.

“Whenever your business sector has confidence in your economy, it translates to them doing better in business, either by expanding or by putting in more investments,” Valte said. “Hopefully, business confidence will continue because that’s also a big contributor to how well our economy is growing.”

The Central Bank survey revealed that businesses confidence index for the second quarter of the year improved to 49.2 percent from 45.2 percent in the previous quarter. The rise was mostly attributed to strong consumer demand, as well as infrastructure rollout and confidence in the government.

READ: Firms see sustained economic growth

Valte affirmed the cited factors, saying the administration had increased its government spending by 11.2 percent from the first quarter.

Disbursement of funds in accordance to the General Appropriations Act for the projects of various departments and agencies had also been going smoothly, Valte said.

“This year, we are really going to fast-track the release of funds for our projects,” she said. “And I think, for Q2 and moving forward, we will see better figures in terms of public infrastructure spending of the government.”

The survey, however, was not that optimistic about expansion of operations and prospects for new hires, as both business expansion and employment outlook index declined.

Nevertheless, Valte still acknowledged the role of the private sector in the recent feat.

“The private sector is really doing well. And hopefully, with everyone’s cooperation, with market confidence up, with the stock market still booming, then [they all] contribute to better numbers for everyone,” she said.

Valte added that President Benigno Aquino III is set to meet with Japanese businessmen in the sidelines of his first state visit to Japan on June 2 to 5, in a bid to attract and expand foreign investments.

“Every time the President goes out, he always makes it a point to touch base with captains of industry to really tell them what has been happening to our country,” she said. “This is bearing fruit. Our foreign direct investments are up, you see how quick the expansion has been.” RC