Erap expects 8-10% GNP growth if economic reforms ....
Balita News
okayed
MANILA - President Joseph "Erap" Ejercito Estrada said Thursday he expects
the Philippine economy to grow by 8 to 10 percent if the proposed economic
reforms in the 1987 Constitution will be approved.
In a meeting with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines
(FOCAP), the President said this would be a far cry from the 3.5 to 4
percent growth expected this year.
"Well, I think it will reach up to 8 to 10 percent if these economic
reforms are approved," he said. Otherwise, he said, he expects only a
minimum of 45 percent improvement from this year's growth target of 3.5 to
4 percent.
The President also allayed fears that the stock market will be affected
permanently by his efforts at Constitutional Correction for Development
(Concord), saying the downtrend during the past two days was only
temporary.
"Well, that is only temporary, I guess. And right now, I just got the
information that the stock market went up again. So it's not affected," he
said.
Mr. Estrada noted that the economy has steadily improved since he assumed
the presidency last year. He said the Gross National Product (GNP) jumped
up from minus 5 percent last year to two percent during the first semester
of this year.
Inflation has remained below 10 percent, while the country's dollar
reserves grew from $5 billion to $13.9 billion during the first half of
this year, the President said.
"So all our economic indicators are on the positive side," he said. (OPS)
/alm
__________________________________________________
Our mailing address is bal...@news.balita.org