Villegas Sees 8% GDP Expansion

In 2013

By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT

November 29, 2012, 7:04pm

The Philippine economy is expected to grow 8.0 percent in 2013 firming up its position as one of three sweet spot areas in the Asia Pacific region.
   “We will grow 8% in GDP next year, mark it,” said the country’s “prophet of boom” and economist Dr. Bernardo Villegas at yesterday’s speech before the Asia Pacific Contact Center Association Leaders (APCCAL) Conference.
           Villegas stressed that “all forces” that make the country grow 7 percent this year would be further sustained next year like the implementation of more PPP projects, the election spending in May and the huge strong and young consumer base.
According to Villegas, every election spending always adds 2 percent increase in consumption growth in this country.
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The country’s growth is primarily anchored on its huge domestic base. The Philippines just like Indonesia is not going to suffer the demographics winter problem that developed and other emerging economies are encountering.
Indonesia has a young and strong population of 250 million people while the Philippines has 95 million.
Comparatively, Singapore has an ageing population and has one of the lowest fertility rates among countries.
In 1975, he said, there were five babies to every woman in the Philippines but it has gone down to 2.5 and is likely to further decline to 2.1 in the next 20 years.
In addition, Villegas said the Philippines and Indonesia are shielded from the economic crisis in Europe and the sluggish growth of the US economy because Singapore and Hong Kong are having very difficult time because more than 200 percent of their GDP is export-dependent.
“It is no-brainer because Europe and US are having economic difficulties,” he stressed.
Another demographic problem is that of China, which manufacturing sector is going on a downtrend because of high attrition rate forcing companies to relocate to other locations in the region.  (BCM)